Tye River Gap

Tye River Gap is a real, mapped Blue Ridge saddle where the Blue Ridge Parkway crosses at roughly milepost 27, on the Nelson-Amherst county line in central Virginia. Collector accounts point to outcrops just west of the gap, and along Route 56 west of Route 151 nearby, as producing Virginia's signature unakite — the pink feldspar, green epidote, and gray quartz combination Virginia is the type locality for — plus beryl and general Blue Ridge quartz. The catch: the gap itself sits on Blue Ridge Parkway land, and the National Park Service bans all collecting on Parkway property, full stop. The real collecting happens on state-maintained road cuts and private land outside the park boundary, which means this is a "know the boundary" site, not a "dig wherever you park" site.

Tye River Gap sits on the Blue Ridge Parkway near milepost 27, on the Nelson/Amherst county line, southwest of Charlottesville, Virginia. Collector-reported outcrops are west of the gap and along Route 56 west of its junction with Route 151 — outside the Parkway boundary on state-maintained roads.

Surface collecting from road-cut outcrops and stream gravel below the ridge, general-area inference from regional Blue Ridge unakite reports rather than a single confirmed pull-off. Bring eye protection if working a road cut; watch for traffic on narrow mountain roads.

The Blue Ridge Parkway itself, like all National Park Service units, prohibits collecting anywhere within its boundary — this applies directly to Tye River Gap since the gap is a named Parkway feature. Any legitimate collecting has to happen outside the Parkway right-of-way, on state road cuts or with permission on private land nearby. Land ownership immediately around the gap outside the Parkway boundary is UNVERIFIED — confirm you're off NPS land before collecting anything. See the Blue Ridge Parkway's own regulations for the general NPS collecting ban.