HIGHLIGHTS: McAfee Knob starts off this section and it is one of the best photo opportunities on the entire Appalachian Trail. The knob is a large anvil shaped rock that hangs out over the valley, and the views from here are spectacular. The Trail continues on to I-81 which it crosses again near the town of Troutville, then it heads toward the Blue Ridge Parkway and meets the James River at US 501 near Glasgow. The climb to the parkway takes you up and over Bluff Mountain where there are black spruce trees and views from the site of an old fire tower. There’s also a memorial to “Little Ottie” a young boy who wandered off and disappeared around here many years ago.
