Blue Ridge Parkway hiker dies on Virginia side of roadway, park service says

A park visitor died while hiking on the Blue Ridge Parkway on Nov. 11, park authorities report.

The hiker, identified as 53-year-old Sharath Jois from Mysore, India, reportedly went into cardiac arrest while hiking the Humpback Rocks Trail, according to a Nov. 12 news release from the National Park Service.

Dispatchers received the report at 3:22 p.m.

Rangers and local first responders witnessed Jois receiving CPR from other hikers before he died at the scene, the news release stated.

The incident occurred near Milepost 6 on the Virginia side of the parkway, which is near the Humpback Gap parking area.

No additional details were made available.

The parkway is the most-visited national park site in the country, with some 16.7 million visitors in 2023.

It stretches 469 miles from the entrance to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia at Milepost 0 to its terminus at MP 469 at the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The roadway crests the highest points of the Blue Ridge Mountains, snaking its way directly through Asheville, where entry points include mileposts 382 at U.S. 70 south to 393 at Brevard Road/N.C. 191.

Story continues

TRENDING NOW

LATEST LOCAL NEWS