The story below is a preview from our March/April 2025 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
The Roanoke Valley’s greenway system, with ongoing expansions like the whitewater park and new trail connections, is set to enhance outdoor recreation, boost local economies and link communities for years to come.
Neil Fox, MNF Productions
The Roanoke River Greenway currently stretches from southeast Roanoke City to the City of Salem.
Ana Morales
Take an easy stroll on the Roanoke greenway, where you can pause on the bridges for beautiful river views.
For those that have lived in the Roanoke Valley for the past 25 years or so, it might be hard to imagine life and the outdoors without the Roanoke River Greenway and other pathways that have been created over that time, often connecting to the “spine” of the valley’s ever-growing system of more than 400 miles of paved and natural surface trails. The Roanoke Valley greenway system attracts a wide ranging, growing diversity of people seeking the great outdoors in their own backyard, to walk, run, push a stroller, ride a bike, rollerblade, fish or just sit on a bench somewhere and watch the river flow by.
The greenways have led to a greater appreciation and easier access to the outdoors and opportunities for better health, especially for those not ready to tackle the Appalachian Trail, which skirts the eastern side of the valley with access in Catawba and Daleville. Greenways, especially the Roanoke River Greenway, have led to an explosion in the number of 5K, 10K and longer-distance footraces, which brings out weekend warriors seeking community with fellow runners — and maybe an age group medal if they’ve put in the training hours.
Nelson Harris was the mayor of Roanoke back when the Roanoke River Greenway was taking shape, after federal funding in the ’90s to construct bench cuts that widened the river banks (reducing the impact from heavy rains and flooding) accelerated the project’s momentum.
“The Roanoke Valley Greenway Commission and the jurisdictions involved with the regional greenway were then trying to link the various sections that had already been developed,” recalls Harris.
Funding obtained with help from then-Congressman Bob Goodlatte for the flood reduction initiative, “helped speed up that process. Everybody in either elected or appointed [positions] realized that the greenways were extremely popular and one of the top recreational amenities that we have.”
Neil Fox, MNF Productions
The Roanoke River Greenway currently stretches from southeast Roanoke City to the City of Salem.
Right now, the Roanoke River Greenway stretches from southeast Roanoke City to the City of Salem, with funding, design and construction underway to finish the remaining gaps before it will span from Explore Park in eastern Roanoke County and through Salem back into the county at Green Hill Park. Long-term plans are to link up with a Montgomery County greenway is envisioned, assuming right of ways can be obtained from private property owners along the route designated, and yes, once the money is there.
Good things often take time to reach completion: Lindsey Webb, an assistant director with Roanoke County’s economic development department says those final greenway links between the county and Salem for example are “very complicated technically to build and design and get environmental permits … along the Roanoke River. Topography is often steep and can be “challenging.”
The Valley Outdoor Infrastructure Committee, a grassroots political action committee formed in 2023, wants Roanoke City Council to budget more funding for outdoor amenities. Finishing the Roanoke River Greenway is a priority. Former Roanoke City parks and rec director Michael Clark is a VOICe executive committee member: “To be competitive, you have to have quality of life amenities — like greenways.” (CNN named Roanoke a “Top 25 Hiking City” in 2023.)
Want to know more about how Roanoke’s greenway system is shaping the community, boosting local businesses and offering endless opportunities for adventure and connection? Check out the latest issue, now on newsstands, or see it for free in our digital guide linked below!
The story above is a preview from our March/April 2025 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!