My husband and I like to hike so on our recent visit to Roanoke we started exploring options. We…read morelearned that McAfees Knob is the most photographed spot on Appalachian trail. We were a bit nervous about an 8 mile hike, but decided we were going to take it on. That hike was no joke, it kicked my butt. However, I did it and I am not someone in amazing shape by any means. There were some very steep/uphill parts and some stretches that were mostly flat. Trail was well marked. I was happy for the variation and we stopped as needed. It is doable, its just long. They say it takes you about 4 hours, which was accurate for us as we arrived around 10am, finished about 2pm. We did the AT trial up and decided to go for the fire road (runs basically parallel but isn't as strenuous) back as we were already tried. I highly recommend this if you not a serious hiker. Most everything I read kept saying you need to get their early as it gets so busy. That wasn't our experience, but it was an unseasonably colder, windy day so that probably deterred people. We also went on a Thursday to help reduce crowd as recommended. Note there are no bathrooms near parking. We found an outhouse near one of the camping sites about 2/3 way up, which we were grateful for. I am not sure it is being maintained regularly, so bring your own TP and hand sanitizer. Now, the view once you get to the top is absolutely beautiful. You can see out so far while you sit/stand on the rocky overlook. I even slowly inched my way out to the very tip of the rock to get the full 360 view. Breathtaking! We brought some snacks to eat up there to replenish (do this) and enjoy the views. We didn't stay up there as long as I would have liked as it was quite cold with the wind when we no longer had the tree cover. Dress appropriately! After we finished the hike, we took a long nap at our Airb&B. I am not sure I would choose to do it again, but I feel very accomplished that we completed this trail and enjoyed the views and our picutres very much.

What an awesome hike. Our new Thanksgiving tradition has been to go on a hike and this was our pick…read morethis year. We got there around 10am since it's a 3 hour drive from Charlotte. I thought it would be empty on Thanksgiving, but it was pretty crowded. We got a parking spot just fine, but the lot was fairly full. The hike is rated as strenuous, but I thought it was moderate. It's about 4 miles to Mcafee Knob from the parking lot making it 8 miles round trip. We took the Appalachian Trail on the way there and the fire road on the way back. The fire road is flatter and wider--an easier hike overall. Parts of the AT were covered in leaves making it a bit hard to hike. Everyone says the last mile is hard. It's uphill but I didn't find it to be too steep. The views at the end are gorgeous. Luckily it wasn't too crowded and we didn't have to wait to get our picture. We didn't stay at the top long because it was incredibly windy which made it pretty cold even though the rest of the hike was comfortable. The whole hike with stops took us just under 4 hours. With views and difficulty combined, we thought it was a great hike!

The Fieldale Walking Trail is part of the Smith River Trails System so it is kept up very well. It…read moreruns along the banks of the Smith River and the trail head is just across the street from the city park and shorter trail, the Textile Heritage Trail (which is beautiful). I don't know enough to get technical but the surface looks like a natural path with some rocks. If it rains, it's packed down enough that the soles of your shoes might get dirty but you won't be trekking through mud. There are benches and birdhouses along the path and access points to the river for fishermen. This is a good river for brown trout. You are likely to pass residents out walking there dogs. I have never had any kind of concern for safety on this path. It seems beautiful and perfectly safe.

Fred Clifton park is right next to Lovers Leap and actually has a superior view. It has a good…read moreparking lot, picnic tables (with grills, I think), paths through the woods and wooden overlooks. There are signs to beware of bear. There are black bear in this area. Hikers should be aware that there is also a trailhead for a hiking path over by the Lovers Leap parking. Look for a big boulder covered with grafitti.

I hiked the hanging rock trail, window falls and hidden falls…read more The window waterfall was so fun! I almost missed the window; even though there was a sign that pointed in that direction. From the sign/arrow that points at window rock, climb down and you will see the window in the rock to your right. Through the window, you can see a waterfall! Visitor center has nice and clean restrooms. Their water refill station was not working when I went.

Hanging rock is absolutely beautiful for a day trip or even a weekend camping trip. They have many…read moredifferent hiking trails and waterfalls and in the summertime they have a lake you can go swimming in. Such a fun place!!

I drove past the visitor center to the scenic overlook! And then I hiked the short 0.8 mi loop…read morearound pilot mountain. Clearly marked trails, nicely maintained. Visitor center has clean bathrooms.

Stopped by on a drive back home and was slightly detour, the drive up toon about 6 min, make sure…read moreyou go slow because it has tight turns, so careful driving required. Once at the top, it was pretty good views, you can see a lot of surrounding nature. If you have time, it's a nice place to see. There is also bathrooms at the top.

A nice little waterfall and hike in the small town of Christiansburg in Virginia just several miles…read moreoff I81. Once you get there the adventure starts when you have to cross a one car very narrow bridge, then cross the railroad tracks, then drive on a one car dirt road to the entrance. There is a small parking lot and information. The hike and waterfall is not very far but it was worth getting off the interstate to see.

Temporarily closed for maintenance and clean up due to people being disrespectful of the site…read more Will post when it reopens.

There is a national forest area gravel parking lot, which gives way to a trail through a…read morerainforest-y ravine, at the top of which one joins the Appalachian Trail. Some of the longer distance hikers were complaining that they thought Virginia was going to be flat, which it most certainly is not in this area. To get from the parking lot to the actual dragon's tooth is about 2.5 miles, and the last 0.5 probably took me as long as the 2, as there is a lot of rock and not a lot of trail. The blazes combined with the twists and turns are somewhat confusing. It's a challenging area, but the reward is some nice views. The first time I tried it, I made it the first two miles and turned around because it was getting dark, which was probably a wise decision.

Incredibly, This is Such a beautiful, majestic and unique…read moretrail located just outside of Roanoke/Blacksburg VA. I accidentally found this place by randomly driving The Virginia byway outside from Blacksburg whilst doing a scenic drive. The Dragon Tooth trail is equipped with Glorious views, Moderate-High Terrain and a trail suitable for Moderate to Advanced Hikers. Strongly recommend! I'm glad I got this Virginia Trail of my bucket list of nature trail Wanders and hope you do too!! The views & Hike are worth it!!

This is a nice place to go relax, take a picnic or if you want to get in a bit of exercise, there…read moreis a nice walking trail.

Large and quite place. Plenty of space for playing with your dog(s) or playing frisbee. Trails are…read morenice. Was a bit a mess when I was there last as piles of sand from the flooded river laid the land.

Walking next to a river is always a wonderful experience. With that being said, trails should be…read moreclearly marked and fallen trees should not block paths. This trail is poorly kept. It's really unfortunate because this site could bring in out of towners who will in turn spend money in the community. We love the outdoors and visit different hiking spots weekly. Shallow Ford barely ranked 3 stars. In addition, they only have 3 campsites that have a blocked view of the river. Do not recommend.

Great hiking. Can walk around in here for a good 2 hours or so uneven path with roots and rocks be…read morecareful some place slightly incline, but not steep. Check it out if in the area

This is a popular local mountain biking trail (actually in the community of Horsepasture)…read more Mountain Laurel Trail Road turns off of Horsepasture-Price Road and really looks more like a private road than anything else. They have a lot of planned group rides here, including beginner groups. I've only walked a portion of the trails but they are very pretty and I can see how they would be fun if I had a mountain bike and was brave enough to try it. Lots of little hills, turns, creek crossings, etc. It's also a beautiful place to photograph. I've seen several newspaper articles saying the Mountain Laurel Trails is pretty highly rated nationally for mountain biking and, I can't remember for sure, but I think that it has even been ranked internationally. Pretty impressive, I think. I believe that the tralis are built and maintained through volunteers, which makes that even more impressive.