Mill Mountain Park is one of the region’s most outstanding parks. Mill Mountain Park, a beloved destination for locals and tourists, is conveniently located near the Blue Ridge Parkway and can be accessed via road or trail. The park covers an area of 568 acres, and the mountain trail is 1.55 miles in length. The regional park is also occasionally reserved for private events, including parties and weddings. The park features a beautiful wildflower garden, interactive educational exhibits, and live creatures. This park has many multi-use trails, including excellent mountain biking, hiking, and trail running. Hikers can use all of the trails. Mountain bikers are welcome to ride on all of the trails.
UNIQUE FACTS:
• Wheel Chair Acessible
• Picnic Tables Available
• Dog-friendliness.
3 Best Hiking Trails in Roanoke, VA
Expert recommended Top 3 Hiking Trails in Roanoke, Virginia. All of our hiking trails actually face a rigorous 50-Point Inspection, which includes customer reviews, history, complaints, ratings, satisfaction, trust, cost and general excellence.
MILL MOUNTAIN PARK REVIEWS
Beautiful trail and overlook. Mill Mountain Park with its star is iconic in Roanoke. You CAN NOT complete your trip without stopping here. Also get your friends back home to see you on the overlook by pulling up the star city cam. It is family friendly, beautiful and breath taking every time you go and at any time of year. Although fall is my favorite anytime I go I'm never disappointed. FYI: there are restrooms on site.
Love this place. Best park in the area so far. My favorite part is the garden. It's small but nice and quiet. I also walked 3 of the trails. I thought they were boring and nothing much to see. But it's something to do. My dog loves this place too. Great mountain views also.
A must for anyone living in or visiting Roanoke. The view of the city from the overlook is gorgeous, there's a great little playground for the kids, and there's the iconic Star itself. Do yourself a favor and go enjoy the lovely trails and experience a Roanoke treasure.
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Explore Park is a popular hiking destination in Roanoke, VA. This is a 1,100-acre (450 ha) passive recreation facility operated by the Roanoke County Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism. Explore park features hundreds of acres of rolling hills, pristine woodlands, hiking trails, river frontage, outdoor adventure, and a visitor information center. Nature lovers can hike or bike along 14 miles of trails to enjoy wildlife and scenic beauty at this park. The park contains a Treetop Quest aerial adventure course featuring zip lines and challenges obstacles for ages four and up. Visit the visitor center to browse their gift shop, which features artisan crafts and parkway memorabilia. The outdoor areas are open year-round for your outdoor fun.
UNIQUE FACTS:
• Restroom Amenities
• Has Barbecue Grill
• Shelters Available.
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EXPLORE PARK REVIEWS
We came to experience Illuminights and we were not disappointed! You purchase tickets online with a slated time, they do not accept walk ups. This allows for the walking trail to freely flow and lessen congestion. Christmas music plays throughout the walk. Staff members are everywhere if you have any questions or issues. Several vendors were on site to offer various goodies. I have to say the “Naughty Santa” cookie was the best! The souvenir shop was open to offer local artists goods. I opted for a souvenir ornament.
Great fishing. Lots to see. Tons of amazing mushrooms. Don's cabins are a perfect place to crash. Lots of trails both hiking and biking. Staff is friendly and helpful and very knowledgeable about the area. Lucky an employee there was awesome and gave us a tour of the elevated platform camping sites and trapper tent sites. Those are amazing each with its own little beach against the roanoke river.
Illuminights is becoming a family tradition around Christmas for us. They do a great job of mixing in new displays with the old favorites, making it worth the repeat visit each year. We love roasting marshmallows after walking the trail looking at the lights, browsing the shop, & grabbing hot chocolate and snacks from the vendors.
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Read Mountain Preserve is one of the County's largest passive recreation areas. The park includes a 5-mile trail system with moderate to strenuous difficulty levels. The park's main feature is a 2-mile trail to Red Mountain's summit, Buzzards Rock. The view from the top is one of the best in the Roanoke Region and is an excellent spot for a hike and picnic. Conservation easements preserve the park with the Virginia Outdoors Foundation and the Blue Ridge Land Conservancy. Most of the land, 243 acres, is covered in dense forest. Visitors can enjoy the natural environment for generations to come, and there are also parking facilities and picnic tables.
UNIQUE FACTS:
• Offers Free Parking
• Scenic Views
• Well-marked Trails.
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Sat & Sun: Closed
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READ MOUNTAIN PRESERVE REVIEWS
I love read mountain!!! The hike is easy to moderate and there’s many trails to choose from to get to the summit. This helps if you want a harder hike or if you want some solitude. The hike can range from 2-3 miles to the summit depending on which trail you take. There’s also a bench at the summit which wasn’t always there. I honestly don’t see the need for a bench up there as there are plenty of rocks to sit on. Overall a beautiful mountain and a beautiful view that overlooks Roanoke, mainly the hollins area. You can also watch airplanes take off and land from the summit!
Short but can be intense climb if you take the red and yellow trails. I'd recommend having hiking boots with ankle support. The blue trail is a nice gentle incline. It is about 2.1 miles to the rock cliffs and you can go further but not as good of a view. Decent parking and seems pretty safe.
Good wooded hike! Well marked to stay on the right trail. We saw a creek along the way. It’s pretty rocky and you even climb some rock steps. If you take the blue trail, it takes you 2 miles up the mountain to Buzzards Rock. It’s all uphill to the overlook, but not too steep. I’d say this hike is moderately challenging.
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