Roanoke Greenways: The Next Generation

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The story below is 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.

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.”

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.)

The valley’s natural surface trails include more than 60 miles at Carvins Cove, which has become a destination for mountain bikers from novice to expert. The myriad of opportunities to go off road on two wheels led Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge to dub the region as America’s East Coast Mountain Biking Capital and earned the designation as a Silver-Level Ride Center™ from the International Mountain Bicycling Association.

Kathryn Lucas, Director of Public Relations with VVBR, calls the greenway system “a tremendous asset at the center of a lot of our marketing efforts. It’s hugely accessible, a very family-friendly way for people to experience the outdoors. Lots of families are looking for more approachable outdoor experiences and they often can find that on the greenway.”

Lucas notes that families walking or biking along the Roanoke River Greenway can also stop at Blue Cow Ice Cream or in Wasena to grab a bite at one of several eateries.

High-profile events — like the IRONMAN Triathlon that was here for several years, the home-grown Blue Ridge Marathon and the USA National Cycling Championships that will bring an Endurance Mountain Bike race here July 14-20 — all include greenway segments. The Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24 Team — girls and women, amateur and professional cyclists training for the Olympics and other high-profile racing events worldwide — is now headquartered here after the team moved its base of operations from Idaho.

We’ve come a long way from a generation ago, in the inventory of trails available — with more on the way — both paved and natural surface, and in the number of people accessing them for walking, running, biking, etc. Greenway system expansion has led to opportunities for businesses like Roanoke Mountain Adventures, located adjacent to the Roanoke River Greenway in Wasena, where Sean Bryant is the Adventure Coordinator.

“A lot of traffic comes from the greenway. We rent a whole range of bikes, from a simple, comfortable hybrid cruiser style for just going up and down the greenway … a lot of e-bike rentals and e-bike tours as well.” Bicycles equipped for natural trail and gravel surfaces are an RMA specialty.

A private foundation working with the City of Roanoke has plans to add another few miles of mixed-use trails on Mill Mountain this year. “You can literally drive to our shop, get a mountain bike, have a really easy greenway ride to the base of Mill Mountain, ride on the single-track trails there and then come back,” says Bryant.

Virginia’s first in-river whitewater park, centered around Wasena Park and set to start construction this year as a launching point for kayaks and other floatation craft, “is going to be another activity that generates more interest and traffic,” adds Bryant. “We’re ready to help connect all the different activities that will be coming.”

Katie Slusher, City of Roanoke Park Project Manager, says the whitewater park (featuring a series of manmade rapids) is one of those, “big ideas that could be a real leg up, a real game changer for our region.”

Pete Eshelman, director for Roanoke Outside Foundation (and senior director for the Roanoke Regional Partnership) calls the greenway system “a cornerstone of our community, everything from enhancing quality of life, boosting local economies, improving public health, social connections, promoting sustainable [and] alternative transportation. The greenways are one of the greatest things to happen to the region. It doesn’t cost anything for people to get on and use them.”

Eshelman notes that a simple walk along the river may eventually lead to a bike ride outing and then even to a first off road mountain biking experience.

Frank Maguire, former greenway coordinator for the Roanoke Valley Greenway Commission (greenways.org), succeeded the legendary Liz Belcher in that role almost four years ago.

“The greenways have had a huge impact in the shaping of the reputation that Roanoke has as an outdoors community. It has provided access to public spaces in ways that parks just don’t. It connects people from neighborhood to neighborhood in a way that doesn’t exist in other places.”

The best part, perhaps? There’s even more to come.

The story above is from our March/April 2025 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!