Julian Price Memorial ParkDecember 2007
"The Julian Price Memorial Park is named in honor of Julian Price, an insurance executive who purchased the acreage in the late 1930s and 1940s to create a retreat for the employees of his insurance company (Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company), which later donated the lands to the Parkway."
Recommended Reading: "Blue Ridge Parkway by Foot" by Tim Pegram
"One of the premier tourist attractions of the eastern United States, the Blue Ridge Parkway stretches from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in western North Carolina. This volume relates the author's one-of-a-kind backpacking trip along the 469-mile road, along with his observations and recollections regarding the Parkway, the most visited unit of the National Park Service. Beginning with his experience as a summer college intern, the book also covers the twelve years he spent working as a ranger on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Anecdotal history and accounts from some of the Parkway's earliest rangers complete this tale of one of our country's national treasures. The appendix contains a chronological, mile-by-mile re-creation of Pegram's 2003 trek, including the names of all the Parkway landmarks mentioned in the book." |
The park has over 4000 acres and is adjacent to the Moses Cone Park. Together, the 2 parks are the largest area along the parkway set aside for public recreation. 
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When the Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company donated the land they requested that Boone Fork be dammed to create a lake in Julian Prices' honor. The Parkway goes over the top of that dam and Price Lake is easily visible from the road. There is a 2.7 mile loop trail around the lake.
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The park has over 100 picnic sites and a 300-seat amphitheater used for lectures during the summer. Visitors can rent canoes for use on Price Lake. There are camping facilities and several trails. Many Boone and Blowing Rick residents fish, canoe, hike and camp in this park, just minutes from these 2 towns, each summer. 
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