Mabry Mill, Blue Ridge Parkway

Mabry Mill is one of the most photographed views in the U.S which prominently stands along the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is exactly located at Milepost 176.2, Blue Ridge Parkway – U.S Highway 58, Floyd County, Virginia. Tourists have found the mill’s very own stone grounds, metal wheel and surrounding rural life most inviting. And perhaps, it is a perfect location to enclose oneself of such rural lifestyle uncommon today. Not everybody would find Mabry Mill easily unless taken the right trail. This trail is called the Mountain Industry Trail where one can opportunely get a self-instructive half-a-mile walk for finding gristmills, sawmills, the blacksmith shop, buildings, farm implements and whiskey stills along the way. These historical exhibits are illustrations of how rural life was like in the eastern United States.

But other than educating yourself, its appearance makes a distinctive cordial welcome to anyone. And if there are other reasons why you may find Mabry Mill a wonderful place to stay at, the cornmeal and buckwheat flour products are to be blamed. In the Mabry Mill Restaurant, you could dine in and take out an order of buckwheat cakes, country ham, the so-called Virginia barbecue, and blackberry preserves. Hikers may also find turtles, ducks, and other wildlife while on the way to the Mabry Mill. But a much better treat for visitors is the festive events dashed with traditional music and dancing. No wonder, travelers and locals come back here year after year. Mabry Mill was originally built in 1910, belonged and operated by E.B. Mabry until 1935 and had been used as a gristmill until the mid-1930s. His place had become popular with photographers and artists that the fame, because of hearsays and words of mouth, has extended up to now.

Though Mabry Mill’s appearance has attracted many, the emphasis on having a good time there is the chance to tour it by yourself. You may even include in your list to pass by the sorghum mill, try out the soap making kettle and may suddenly catch yourself awed by an “old-time” whiskey still. Other than that, because Mabry Mill has become a living-history site, it holds regular demonstrations of old-fashioned smithing, spinning, and weaving techniques. The mill embodies what it was actually like and how beautiful it was to live in the past. It highlights an incredible establishment of a culture in the Blue Ridge that continually imparts possibilities to enhance skills of crafts not practiced nowadays, and still sparing you with an adventurous tour.