Rockfish Gap is a low saddle in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and it has a history that outweighs its modest size. It was a natural crossing from the Piedmont to the Shenandoah Valley long before roads were built, and in the nineteenth century a turnpike and then a railway tunnel used it. Today, Interstate 64 passes through it, and it is where Skyline Drive ends and the Blue Ridge Parkway begins, so the gap is a kind of hinge between two of the great scenic roads of the eastern United States.
In 1818, a commission chaired by Thomas Jefferson met at a tavern at the gap to choose the site for a state university, and agreed on Charlottesville, which led to the founding of the University of Virginia. The Appalachian Trail also crosses here, and hikers walking from Georgia to Maine pass through on their way. If you see a tired, bearded stranger with a heavy pack and a gleam in his eye at the roadside, he is probably two thousand miles into the trip.
For riders, it is a sort of finish line. The southern end of Skyline Drive winds down gently from the high ridge toward the gap, through hardwood forest, with views over farmland to both sides. At the gap, the Blue Ridge Parkway starts at milepost zero and runs south for four hundred and sixty-nine miles to the Great Smoky Mountains, and many riders continue straight on. Speed limits are low on both roads, and the pace is relaxed, which suits the long, looping, hilltop curves.
Waynesboro, a small city of over twenty thousand just below the gap, has fuel stations, supermarkets, restaurants and motels, and it is the sensible place to refill and rest. There is little fuel on the Parkway itself, so fill up before leaving. Weather in the Blue Ridge can change quickly, with fog and rain, and the Parkway sometimes closes in winter. Autumn is the busiest and most colourful time, while spring brings wildflowers and cool mornings. In summer, the ridge is a good place to escape the heat of the lowlands.