Note: The story below is an excerpt from our Jan./Feb. 2015 issue. For the full story download our FREE iOS app or view our digital edition for FREE today!
For a directory of area recreation assets, facilities and organizations, as well as a guide to area golf courses, please views our A-to-Z guide to Roanoke Recreation.
Over the past few years a number of national magazines and websites that track such things have identified the Roanoke Valley as one of the best places to live, work and play. At the top of every list? The bounty of outdoor amenities – and it just keeps getting better.
The Go Outside Festival – GoFest for short – drew more people than ever in its fourth year last October (an estimated 20,000) and the five-year-old Blue Ridge Marathon (every April) has welcomed a larger field every time out. It’s tougher too – changes to the course since its inception have made the full and half marathon more challenging than ever; the new Star 10K brought hundreds more into the fold at the event for the first time last year. In 2014 there were 1,930 registered runners overall (up from 1,734 in 2013).
Roanoke City has responded to that focus by adding employees who target outdoor branding and a growing trail system. Renee Lavin was hired several years ago by Roanoke City Parks and Recreation as a trails specialist, targeting the natural trails (unpaved): “We’re just seeing more people taking advantage of the great resources that the trails are in the area.”
In 2014 Lavin and company introduced the On the Trails duathlon (mountain biking-running) at Carvins Cove, and the Off the Rails mini-triathlon at Fallon Park. Lavin calls Carvins Cove “a great resource for the valley. We really wanted to showcase the trails out there.” More than five miles of new natural surface trails have been built during Lavin’s tenure.
Joe Hanning was also hired by the city to promote the great outdoors – and local activities like the WazUpWidis Urban Race (February) that is run through parking garages and Roanoke’s only 20-story office building downtown. The marketing and outreach coordinator for Roanoke City parks and rec oversees the now four-year-old “Roanoke 100-Miler,” which encourages people to walk, run or bike that many miles or more during the winter months.
“Each year, our 100 Miler Team has excelled by averaging more than 200 miles per person,” says Hanning, who has also launched similar efforts (7 Summits mountain hikes, Great Greenway Tour) that encourage group participation. Hanning now manages May’s Gallop for the Greenways 5K race, created almost a decade ago as a fundraiser for the greenway system.
“All of these events share our [ongoing] goal – to get people off the couch, to create an active lifestyle and community using all of the amenities that Roanoke has to offer,” says Hanning.
There are more new wrinkles ahead for those who love the outdoors – or are just now dipping their toes in the water. Speaking of water, plans for a “blueway” centered on the Roanoke River are just beginning to take shape. (Botetourt County has already turned parts of the James River into a successful blueway, with launch ramps for kayaks and canoes, including one in downtown Buchanan (that’s Buck-hannon, not Bue- cannon for you newcomers.)
Aaron Ewert, one of the developers behind The Bridges mixed-use projects along South Jefferson Street and Walnut Avenue, is working on an access point along the Roanoke River that he plans to have operational in 2015.
“We hope to get ours up and running, as one of the first to get the momentum started [for the Roanoke River Blueway]. It’s for kayaks, canoes, tubes, paddle boards, etc.,” says Ewert, a former soccer goalkeeper for Roanoke College.
Another sign that Roanoke’s outdoor amenities are maturing: what is being called the first full-service outfitter in the valley, Roanoke Mountain Adventures, plans for a spring 2015 opening along the Roanoke River Greenway, in a vintage Wasena neighborhood building that once housed the Virginia Museum of Transportation.
“[We want] to promote the area’s natural resources by providing services that make outdoor activities more accessible to visitors and residents,” says James Revercomb, who will co-own the business with his father Jim. James Revercomb is relocating back from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where he was involved with a similar venture. Look for equipment (kayaking, mountain biking, road cycling etc.), guided tours and transportation to outdoor attractions.
“Jim is a successful businessman who has long felt the region was ignoring one of its greatest assets, the outdoors,” says Pete Eshelman, director of outdoor branding for the Roanoke Regional Partnership. “He now sees an opportunity and is ready to capitalize on it.” The partnership assisted the Revercombs in getting Roanoke Mountain Adventures off the ground.
For those who want to get in better shape before they head outdoors, there are private and public fitness centers (the YMCA, Gold’s Gym, Crossfit, local parks and recreation facilities). Roanoke County’s Green Ridge Recreation Center just off I-581 at Peters Creek Road has drawn more than 280,000 visitors annually in the past two fiscal years, according to Parks, Recreation and Tourism Director Doug Blount. “We are very pleased with the support of citizens in the county and around the valley that use the facilities,” says Blount; “Daily [drop-in] admissions were up from the previous year.”
Look for more outdoor/environmental programming at county facilities including Explore Park – now being leased from the Virginia Recreational Foundation Authority with plans to make it a more user-friendly venue. “This will be the largest project our department will work on in 2015,” notes Blount.
There are miles of natural surface trails and a small boat launch site at Explore Park, which is easily accessed from the Blue Ridge Parkway. Elsewhere the county plans to finish a spur trail from the Appalachian Trail to the Catawba Sustainability Center, a short path to Back Creek from U.S. 221 and extensions to the Tinker Creek Greenway through the Hollins University Campus and to Botetourt County.
The City of Salem plans to add another mile to the Roanoke River Greenway in 2015 – on top of the four already within city limits. Extensions to the Mason Creek Greenway and Hanging Rock Battlefield Trail are planned as well.
“We are also about to begin construction of about half a mile of trail and sidewalk linking Ridgewood Farms and LewisGale [Hospital] to the Roanoke River Greenway along [Va] 419,” says Mike Stevens, communications director for the City of Salem.
Stevens also points out that Salem now has adult flag football for those looking for a gentler form of gridiron glory. For spectators, no locality can top Salem, which hosts NCAA Division II and III championship events on a regular basis, in sports including softball, basketball, lacrosse and football. That’s in addition to a myriad of major softball tournaments held at the Moyer Sports Complex – and minor league baseball with the Single-A Salem Red Sox (salemsox.com).
A volunteer group called Pathfinders for Greenways (mostly retirees), working under the auspices of the Roanoke Valley Greenway Commission, has built and/or maintained many miles of natural surface trails in the region – even venturing out to Waid Park in Franklin County and the Natural Bridge attraction – slated to become a state park within the next few years.
Brian Batteiger coordinates the Pathfinders for Greenways activities, which has helped turn Carvins Cove into a major recreation destination: “In 2015 Pathfinders will finish the Rattlin’ Run trail which connects Bennett Springs Loop …to the Song Bird trail,” says Batteiger. “This trail will be around 3 miles long and is the most technical trail at Carvins Cove due to all the large rocks. [It’s] very scenic.”
Another new path for hikers, runner and mountain bikers – the two-mile-long Rock-N-Roll Trail – is also slated for debut at Carvins Cove in 2015; it connects the Arrowhead and School House trails.
“It will be an easy-intermediate trail for the most part with some alternative technical sections,” promises Batteiger.
Carvins Cove is Roanoke City’s principal water supply and used to be treated like Area 51 – sort of off limits. In recent years, however, via kayak rentals, races held there (like Conquer the Cove by the Mountain Junkies group) and a 2.4-mile access trail from Hollins University property (near exit 146 on I-81) it has become more utilized by the general public. There are now well over 40 miles of trails at Carvins Cove.
Liz Belcher, the relentless Roanoke Valley Greenways Commission coordinator who was and has remained a sort of pied piper for greenway systems since the idea first took root in the mid ‘90s, says, “lots of funding requests are pending,” for the Roanoke River Greenway and other parts of the system. Finishing off the last four-mile gap that would connect Roanoke City to Salem is the principal line item.
In Vinton the smallish Glade Creek Greenway could launch this year: “They need a little more money,” a familiar refrain, notes Belcher. She does have “increasing concern about accidents and fatalities,” especially on local roads where cyclists and runners share space with vehicles. In recent years Belcher has also been stressing “greenway etiquette” as the Roanoke River Greenway and other urban pathways welcome more and more users.
Finally, not to toot our own horn …oh, why not, LeisureMedia360 has now launched a magazine devoted to the outdoor activities in the Roanoke and New River Valleys, and in the lower Shenandoah Valley towards Lexington. Life Outside debuted last fall and is scheduled to publish three times in 2015.
“LifeOutside is another tool that will continue to help develop our outdoor brand and community narrative,” says Pete Eshelman from the Regional Partnership, which encouraged LeisureMedia360 to take the plunge and has a seat on the magazine’s board of directors. “It’s a resource that helps reach another segment of our market.”
Speaking of resources, see the detailed compilation at theroanoker.com/newcomer for websites, Facebook pages and phone numbers to get you outdoors.
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