The Blue Ridge Parkway is not that far from Tellico Plains or the Cherohala Skyway. You can pick it up at Cherokee, NC where it ends...or just east of Sylva, NC....or near Asheville, NC. One of my favorite sections in North Carolina, is the one between Sylva & Asheville. The photos below are from this section that passes through Transylvania County....the land of 250 waterfalls.