I'm always in favor of more green space, but this isn't the best trail I've ever seen. The views…read moreare modest, and it runs through residential areas but doesn't really connect to much of anything. There's only one real parking lot in the middle, and I see people sitting in their cars for unknown reasons or an abandoned car that was just stuck there once. It's not a great vibe. The trail is paved, but not lit, and some of the isolated parts just didn't feel that safe to me in the fading light. To be useful, the trail needs to be cleaned up and livened up.

Parts of it are very pretty, it can be a bit creepy in some parts for a woman alone. The area just…read moreover the bridge from Valley View is quite isolated, and I've observed men hanging out there near the woods or the stream. A woman by herself was assaulted there not long ago. I no longer walk that section of the greenway.

This park is currently in flux due to a massive bridge project that has been under construction for…read moreyears. As such, the park access is not ideal, and the greenway trail running by the river is interrupted and requires a detour. The main section of park that is open has notable merits, including a fitness loop, a smaller pedestrian bridge, and athletic fields. I hope that eventually construction on both the bridge and park will finish and give way to a better facility, but it is a pleasant area.

Wasena Park is a big multipurpose park in a Roanoke subdivision called Wasena, and one of many that…read moreRoanoke River Greenway runs through (Smith Park is just to the east of Wasena Park). Roanoke River Greenway, in turn, is one of almost a dozen Roanoke Valley Greenways, and extends over many miles of paved trails. The park has several entry points along Wiley Drive SW with plenty of parking spaces to accommodate the locals and visitors here to enjoy what the park has to offer: the skate park is a clever use of bridge bases (pictured); the baseball and basketball courts seem popular and are often nicely crowded; several picnic areas have tables, bench seats, water fountains, and more; and the children's playgrounds are usually filled with little ones. The trails are paved all the way through, and the Roanoke River is never more than 20 metres away. Enjoy!

In all this is around a thirty mile stretch running through Salem, Roanoke Star…read more I walked a few miles and saw a lot of activity on a Saturday morning. For a first time experience I liked it, but could benefit from extending my walk. It's pretty and has some inclines. Part of the walk is along the River.

State parks are close to our hearts ! Love the incredible chill ! It rained all weekend but was…read moresuch a great place to relax !

Came back again and stayed in a waterfront cabin this time, and it's well worth the upgrade! The…read moreview was great and the bedroom faced the water with a picturesque double window complete with blinds to limit or highlight the scene! Osprey were nesting, which was amazing!! Trails were beautiful, and since we were just weeks from peak season, it was still quiet and peaceful, but with gorgeous spring weather!

Last Friday was the Grand Opening of the relocation of Roanoke Mountain Adventures from the Wasena…read moreneighborhood along the Roanoke River Greenway, where it originally opened on April 1st of 2015, to the current relocation to the much larger location at the Black Dog Salvage property in the beautiful Grandin Village area of Roanoke, Virginia. Family-owned by Jeff and Bethany Todd since June of 2020, Roanoke Mountain Adventures is a full service outfitter offering guided trips for mountain biking, stand-up paddleboarding, and kayaking, equipment sales and rentals, and an extensive area shuttle service for a variety of do-it-yourself outdoor adventures. Their primary mission is to promote and make the Roanoke region's outdoor recreation opportunities accessible to visitors and residents. Following their relocation to the Black Dog Salvage property, owner Jeff Todd emphasized that their ultimate vision is to nurture Roanoke's "human-outdoors ecosystem" by "ensuring getting outside remains fun, affordable, local, and sustainable". Today I arrived at the well-familiar place of the Black Dog Salvage property and was amazed at the excellent job they had done of with the interior design of their establishment in this new location. Two friendly young ladies greeted me behind the front large counter and welcomed me to their new location. They chatted with me and provided me with information about the company and all the services they provided. They provided expert guided trips such as e-bike tours, mountain bike excursions, and seasonal river floating trips around the Roanoke region. Some of their most popular Guided Trips and Outing are: The Views & Brews E-Bike Tour - A guided electric bike ride that covered scenic mountain views, downtown Roanoke, greenways, and three local brewery tasting stops; Guided Mountain Bike Rides; Mill Mountain Bike Tours; and River Tubing and Kayaking. Equipment rental rates vary. For example, E-Bikes can be rented at $42 for 2 hours or $58 for a full-day rental. They even let your test ride them on the premises for fit. Through their Outdoor Gear Consignment Shop, customers bring their used high-quality gear, a staff member does research on them and sets reasonable prices. Other customers have the opportunity to purchase quality brand name slightly used products at a price they can afford and the original owner gets 60% of the sale price. Thus providing affordable options at a fraction of retail cost. They also sell the latest of camping and biking new products at reasonable prices backed by knowledgeable, trained staff to provide you with professional advice and a bike service & repair shop in case you need them in the future. I had the opportunity to observe one of them taking care of two young gentlemen looking forward to purchasing a bike and can attest to the excellent advice given. I also had the opportunity of observing Jeff, the owner, interacting with one of his repeat customers and his two kids and see the strong community relationships he maintains. I highly recommend this gem of a place for all your fun outdoor needs. As I was leaving, walking towards my car parked in their parking lot, I had the privilege of meeting the owner of Black Dog Salvage and explaining that I was about to write a review of Roanoke Mountain Adventures to send to Yelp and he told me he didn't know they were still around. I assured him that they were and better than ever before and that I could attest to this having been selected as 4th on the list of Yelp's Top most prolific Elites of 2025 and invited him to read and view my photographs of this soon to be Yelp review and the one I did of The Loft Gallery inside his Black Dog Salvage business.

Small park with small playground. Nice walking track 1/4 mile, 2 nice level soccer fields with…read moreshade and nets to keep balls from going over the edge. One porta John toilet, gravel parking.

When I visited, it was the end of the school year, so there were lots of photo shoots happening in…read morethe Hahn Horticulture Garden. Of course there were: This is one of the most beautiful spots on the Virginia Tech campus. The garden is six acres of beauty, and it's a wonderful place to wander around and look at all of the plants and flowers and trees. Perhaps you can also relax at one of the benches that are placed hither and thither. The garden serves as a resource for the students to learn about horticulture, landscaping concepts and environmental stewardship. But it's also just a nice place to sit and relax. I like a good bridge over a pond, and they have that here. The pond has lots of koi fish in it, which I was told an egret will sometimes make a nice meal out of. (Poor koi!) Such is life, though, I guess, right? There are also trellises to walk under, brick paths to walk down, statues to gaze upon, and Adirondack seats to sit in. I saw a couple of students working on their laptops in the garden, which you can do because the campus wifi is also accessible in the garden.

The university has a constructed garden kind of on the edge near where the academic buildings end…read moreand the sports start. It has a variety of interesting plant life and the pond was filled with some lively fish. It's not a major destination like the botanical gardens and arboretums I've seen at some other universities, which was a bit of a surprise, but it's a nice place to stop through.

We were in the Roanoke area and I had dropped my wife and daughter at the mall. I had…read moreresponsibility for the dog, and I did not want to leave him alone in the car for an extended period. So I checked my Maps function and found this park. It proved to be a good place for a walk. This small park (1 square block) is straddled by an elementary school and a middle school, so I imagine it is a popular place for after-school activities. It was a Saturday, however, so there was no such thing of that kind going on. While sunny, it was also a rather cold day and it was the last hour of daylight. So the net effect was that the park was empty. There was a decent amount of green space just to walk around, and Frank (my daughter's pug) enjoyed that. There was also a tennis court, a basketball area and a play area for younger kids. There was a recreation building that was closed when we were there. In all, it looked like a very nice neighborhood park. It provided a lovely, albeit brief, place for respite for us.