The concept for the Blue Ridge Parkway began in 1933 as a way to connect the Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains national parks; built in phases, the parkway was completed in 1987. As part of the overall design of the parkway, recreational areas with visitor service nodes were developed along the 469 mile route, such as the Peaks of Otter Developed Area in Virginia. During the summer of 2013, the CLL crafted six Cultural Landscape Inventories (CLIs) under the Peaks of Otter Developed Area parent landscape including the Peaks of Otter Campground, Peaks of Otter Picnic Area, Peaks of Otter Lodge and Abbott Lake, Peaks of Otter Visitor Center, Flat Top and Fallingwater Cascades Trailheads and Sharp Top and the Nature Center.