Blue Ridge Parkway Quarter
In 2015, a third national site will be honored on a quarter with the release of the Blue Ridge Parkway Quarter, depicting the site located in North Carolina. This will be the 28th quarter released as part of the United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters® Program and also signal the completion of the first half of the fifty-six quarters to be issued in the series before it is completed in 2021.
The program debuted with the 2010 National Park Quarters and features five strikes per year released as part of it. The reverse of each strike contains an image emblematic of the selected location while the obverse of all of the strikes shows a portrait of George Washington, the first President of the United States.
Design information for the reverses of all of the 2015 quarters including this Blue Ridge Parkway Quarter should be released late 2014. The Citizen’s Coinage Advisory Committee and the Commission of Fine Arts will review several design candidates for all of the 2015 quarters before the United States Mint releases the final design choices as chosen by the Secretary of the Treasury.
Two quarters will be released in 2015 before the Blue Ridge Parkway Quarter. Those quarters are the Homestead National Monument Quarter and the Kisatchie National Forest Quarter. Following the Blue Ridge Parkway Quarter will be the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge Quarter and the Saratoga National Historical Park Quarter.
Blue Ridge Parkway information
Following the Blue Ridge mountain range, the Blue Ridge Parkway is mostly located in North Carolina. The rest of the roadway is located in Virginia, but for the sake of the America the Beautiful Quarters Program, it is honored in North Carolina.
Since the parkway is located near many cities, it is the most visited national park in the National Park System owing to the great scenery along the roadway. Over 15 million people visit it per year, taking in much of the view of the Appalachian Mountains.
During the winter months, however, parts of the roadway can be closed off due to snow and ice. All of the park’s facilities are closed during the winter as well. Visitors must plan ahead during these months, as well as any other time of year, especially since there are no gas stations along the way.