Roanoke River: America's Best Urban Kayaking Spot

by

The story below is from our March/April 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you! 

We take a look at several urban locations to launch your kayak.

For those who know the Roanoke River best, it comes as no surprise that the waterway won the 2022 USA Today Readers’ Choice Travel Award for Best Urban Kayaking Spot. Jeff Raines, general manager for Roanoke Mountain Adventures (RMA), certainly believes the stream deserves its accolade. “The Roanoke’s number one virtue would have to be its accessibility,” he says. “It’s easy to put in and take out along the river. Second, the Roanoke has many trips that people with beginning or intermediate skills can take. Of course, we work with beginning paddlers so they can learn the basic strokes.” Conversely, continues Raines, the Roanoke also boasts an excursion with outstanding whitewater for expert paddlers, as well as getaways that feature rural auras and outstanding angling. Here’s a closer look at some of these floats.

SALEM ROTARY PARK TO WASENA PARK (5.5 MILES)

Bob Dagley, a construction supply salesman from Roanoke County, rates the Salem Rotary Park to Wasena Park junket as his favorite.

“It’s pretty unique to have a trip like this in an urban area,” he says. “There are times when you feel like you’re way out in the country, but there are also times when you hear jackhammers and traffic. I’m primarily a fisherman, so I like the fact that I can catch both smallmouth and trout on the Rotary Park float. There are very few rivers in Virginia where you can catch both of those fish.”

Class I rapids, riffles and pools dominate this float, making it a good one for beginning and intermediate paddlers.

ROANOKE RIVER OVERLOOK (MILEPOST 114.9) TO EXPLORE PARK/RUTROUGH POINT (3.0 MILES)

For whitewater fun, the excursion from the Blue Ridge Parkway to Explore Park, often known locally as the “gorge,” flaunts some of the most intense rapids in the region says Sean Bryant, adventure coordinator for RMA.

“The gorge is no place for novices or intermediate paddlers unless they are with a guide or someone who is an excellent paddler,” he says. “This is the most challenging float on the Roanoke and one which really has a wilderness feel. Kayakers who like to surf through Class II and III rapids really enjoy taking this trip.”

Potential paddlers should be aware that the pathway to the river right boat slide descends for about a half-mile down a steep mountainside. This trip also probably offers kayakers their best chance to glimpse a bald eagle on the Roanoke, says Bryant.

WAYSIDE PARK TO GREEN HILL PARK (7 MILES)

Bill Tanger, chairman of the Friends of Rivers of Virginia, recommends the Wayside to Green Hill Park junket, especially because of the improvements made at the put-in. The Roanoke County resident says a new concrete ramp is in place and riprap has been added on both sides to prevent erosion. Parking spaces have been created and more are planned. But improved access aside, this is a marvelous getaway.

“The Wayside float is the most remote on the Roanoke, and basically also the farthest upstream trip that people would want to take because of low water and other factors,” Tanger says. “Most of the trip takes place in rural Roanoke County; the banks are heavily wooded in most places, and there’s a Class II rapid and two Class I-plusses.

“I think paddlers will also enjoy seeing a beautiful old railroad trestle, and there are several cobble beaches where people can stop to eat a shore lunch. There are even some pools that would make good swimming holes.”

Green Hill Park to Salem Rotary Park (7.4 miles)

Salem’s John Loope, a volunteer for the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center of Roanoke, rates the Green Hill to Salem Rotary Park float as his favorite.

“This is basically a trip through downtown Salem with mostly riffles and Class I rapids,” he says. “So beginning and intermediate paddlers should be fine, except for one Class II dogleg during the first half of the trip. The current pulls you into the right side of the rapid, but then the current switches and flows left, which is where things can get tricky. So I recommend that people portage this rapid by walking their kayaks through the shallow water on river left.”

Loope says anglers will enjoy fishing for trout, smallmouth bass, rock bass and redbreast sunfish on this excursion. And this past spring, he observed ospreys and a nesting pair of bald eagles as well. Another plus is that the Roanoke River Greenway parallels the river for the last six miles or so of this section.

Roanoke's Future In-River Kayak Park 

If the project goes as planned, the Wasena Park area of the Roanoke River will be the site of an in-stream kayak park by 2026 at the latest.  Briefly, a kayak park is one designed on a natural waterway by adding boulders and rocks to create waves and whitewater. The result is an enhanced river experience for both paddlers and anglers. Michael Clark, director of Roanoke Parks and Recreation, says the concept was first conceived by Pete Eshelman with the Roanoke Outside Foundation. The agency commissioned a feasibility study in 2015, which identified three viable locations in the valley.

“The park will be accessible to tubers, stand-up paddle boarders, kayakers and canoeists of all ages and abilities,” Clark says. “There will be elements of the park that will appeal to beginners and experts alike. Also, when there’s more oxygen in the water, fish are generally more active so these new rapids and riffles will appeal to fishing enthusiasts, as well.

“We’re expecting a lengthy permitting period so hopefully folks will be patient with us. The money for the project has to be allocated by the end of 2024 (which includes both design and construction) and the project must be completed by the end of 2026.”

Trip Account

Last July, friend Jamie Gold of Sterling and I joined my daughter Sarah Reynolds, her husband David and their two boys Sam and Eli, ages 10 and eight respectively, for an outing from Salem Rotary Park to Wasena Park. Jamie and I mostly wanted to experience a fishing getaway while the Reynolds family just wanted to spend quality time together while kayaking the Roanoke.

Gold and I caught smallmouth bass up to 18 inches and heard or saw some two dozen species of birds. And the Reynolds clan relished running the riffles and easy rapids on this float and dining on a shore lunch. Whether you’re a paddler, angler or wildlife watcher, the Roanoke River deserves its ranking as the country’s best urban kayaking destination.

Helpful Info:

Roanoke Mountain Adventures:

(540) 525-8295; roanokemountainadventures.com.

Map: RoanokeRiverBlueway.org.

The story above is from our March/April 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!