15. Tye River Gap

Cyclists in Virginia may occasionally see a specialized license plate on cars with the title: Blue Ridge Parkway. The license depicts a series of mountain ranges in shades of blue with a sky in varying shades of pale yellow. The Tye River Gap is a mountain pass where Route 76 travels along the Blue Ridge Parkway, offering stunning views into the adjoining valley. The Blue Ridge Parkway provides an experience of being in nature while using engineering to arrange for a carefully managed experience of the natural world. This episode explores the Blue Ridge Parkway as an example of a twentieth century practice of engineering the experience of nature to make it accessible to people and their automobiles. The episode is connected to the Tye River Gap, located just over 350 miles from Yorktown, the starting point for the westbound route, and about 200 miles from the Kentucky border, where eastbound riders enter Virginia.