Callaway, Virginia - Backroads Tour

By Bob Heafner © 1984-2012

Issue: December 1984

This month our BACKROADS tour will begin at Adney Gap on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Milepost 136. From here we will go "down the mountain" to the picturesque little Franklin County, Virginia community of Callaway.

This is a beautiful area and a place where many early pioneers branched off "The Carolina Road" to settle when this part of Virginia was still a wilderness.

Traveling through this area, it's easy to see why it was chosen by those early pioneers. The land is rich bottom land, excellent for crops, and lies tucked into the valley at the base of the Blue Ridge which offered protection from the fierce north winds.

All along this route are mountain farms with silos and old immaculate two story farm houses. It's a beautiful area where the folks are friendly and I'm sure you will enjoy.

The entire tour will cover 28.8 miles and will require approximately one hour to complete.

BACKROADS tours always make a complete loop back to the point where we started. The underlined numbers at the beginning of each paragraph indicate the total number of miles we've traveled from our point of beginning. The numbers in parenthesis ( ) indicate the distance from the last point of interest that we passed.

0.0 (0.0) We will begin on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Milepost 136 at Adney Gap. Our point of beginning is approximately 14.6 miles south of the intersection of U.S. Highway 220 and the Blue Ridge Parkway in Roanoke, Virginia. From Blue Ridge Parkway Milepost 136 at Adney Gap we will exit the Blue Ridge Parkway toward US Highway 221.

0.3 (0.3) At this stop sign we will turn left onto US 221 toward Floyd, Virginia.

0.4 (0.1) Here we will turn left onto state road 602, which is the first state road to our left after entering US Highway 221.

0.6 (0.2) Here we pass under the Blue Ridge Parkway overpass on state road 602.

0.7 (0.1) We are now entering Franklin County, Virginia and leaving Roanoke County.

2.0 (1.3) A rocky little stream parallels state road 602 from this point on.

3.6 (1.6) The picturesque little church on our right is the Pippen Hill Memorial Church.

7.2 (3.6) There is a beautiful old farm house on our right here.

10.9 (3.7) The large brick church on our right here is the Piedmont Presbyterian Church.

11.1 (0.2) The Callaway, Virginia Post Office is on our left here and we will turn right, continuing to follow state road 602.

12.9 (1.8) Here we turn right onto state road 748.

13.5 (0.6) At this point we will turn right onto state road 642. The scenery and farms along this road are beautiful and the mountains rising high behind them make a truly picturesque backdrop for this valley.

17.9 (4.4) At this stop sign we are back to state road 602 (at the Piedmont Presbyterian Church). Here we will turn left onto state road 602 and head back up the mountain.

28.4 (10.5) At this stop sign, we are back to US 221 where we will turn right.

28.5 (0.1) Here we turn right onto the access road leading to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

28.8 (0.3) We are back to our point of beginning at Milepost 136 on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We hope that you have enjoyed this month's tour as much as we have.