VINTON, Va. (AP) _ Heavy rainfall, floods and closures steered visitors away from a popular Virginia parkway last month. The Roanoke Times reports about 1.68 million people visited Blue Ridge Parkway in October. This was a drop of about 230,000 visitors compared to the same time last year. Several campsites and picnic areas were closed or inaccessible during the first week of the month. Mabry Mill Restaurant and the Sharp Top shuttle bus at Peaks of Otter were also inaccessible during October. In spite of October’s numbers, Blue Ridge Parkway visitation in 2015 is still running ahead of last year’s totals. The parkway has had roughly 12.9 million visitors through October and is on pace to finish ahead of last year’s total of 13.9 million visitors.
