Alleghany County is proud to be the home of the Cumberland Knob Visitor Center (Milepost 217.5), the place where the first shovel hit the ground to begin Blue Ridge Parkway construction on September 11, 1935. For more than 85 years, the Parkway has been a part of the daily lives of residents of the County and Sparta, NC, the county seat. Today, Sparta is a bustling small town and the hub of this rural community. The Courthouse is surrounded by the shops and stores of old downtown. It is surrounded by the Alleghany countryside, much of it still in pasture, fields, Christmas tree farms, and woodland that reflect the same scenic beauty for which the Parkway is so well known.
The New River lies along Alleghany County’s western and northern borders. At the other end of the county, a 600-foot granite dome – namesake of Stone Mountain State Park – is surrounded by rock climbers, waterfalls, hikers, picnickers, and historic sites.