Explore Park, Roanoke

#7 among attractions in Roanoke

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Facts and practical information

Explore Park is a 1,100-acre passive recreation facility operated by the Roanoke County Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism. The park is located at milepost 115 on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Roanoke County, Virginia, with 700 acres of the park lying in Roanoke County and 400 acres in adjacent Bedford County. It includes various restored local historical structures and both hiking and biking trails, along with access to the Roanoke River for recreational use via an external county road. The park is located near the gorge where the Roanoke River leaves the Roanoke Valley. ()

Created: 1985Visitors per year: 18 thous.Coordinates: 37°14'18"N, 79°51'7"W

Address

Roanoke United States

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Day trips

Explore Park – popular in the area (distance from the attraction)

Nearby attractions include: Berglund Center, Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke Star, O. Winston Link Museum.

5.4 miNW
Sport venue, Civic center, Sport
Berglund Center, Roanoke
139 min walk • The Berglund Center, formerly known as the Roanoke Civic Center, is a beacon of entertainment and community events in Roanoke, Virginia. This versatile arena, nestled in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, offers a plethora of events ranging from concerts...
5.3 miNW
Museum, Art museum, Postmodern architecture
Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke
136 min walk • The Taubman Museum of Art, formerly the Art Museum of Western Virginia, is an art museum in downtown Roanoke, Virginia, United States. It was designed by architect Randall Stout.
4.5 miW
Nature, Mountain
Roanoke Star, Roanoke
115 min walk • The Roanoke Star, also known as the Mill Mountain Star, is the world's largest freestanding illuminated man-made star, constructed in 1949 at the top of Mill Mountain in Roanoke, Virginia. It is visible for 60 miles from the air and it sits 1,045 feet above the city of Roanoke.
5.3 miNW
Museum, Specialty museum, Art museum
O. Winston Link Museum, Roanoke
136 min walk • The O. Winston Link Museum is a museum dedicated to the photography of O. Winston Link, the twentieth century railroad photographer widely considered the master of the juxtaposition between steam railroading and rural culture.
5.3 miNW
Museum, Science museum
Science Museum of Western Virginia, Roanoke
136 min walk • The Science Museum of Western Virginia is a science museum located in Roanoke, Virginia. Exhibit themes include the environment and its health, healthy bodies, computer coding, the scientific method of engineering, and science through toys and amusements.
5.3 miNW
Concerts and shows, Theater
Mill Mountain Theatre, Roanoke
136 min walk • Mill Mountain Theatre is a professional equity theatre located in Roanoke, Virginia. Originally opening as Mill Mountain Playhouse as a “not-for-profit, non-Equity resident stock theatre”, the location burned down in 1976, leading to a re-opening and renaming at the Center in the Square in 1983.
4.7 miW
Compact animal park with a train ride
Mill Mountain Zoo, Roanoke
120 min walk • The Mill Mountain Zoo is a zoo located atop Mill Mountain in Roanoke, Virginia, United States. When it opened in 1952, the zoo was operated by the City of Roanoke. In 1976, the city turned its operation over to the Roanoke Jaycees.
5.3 miW
Sacred and religious sites, Church, Gothic Revival architecture
St. John's Episcopal Church, Roanoke
135 min walk • St. John's Episcopal Church is a historic Episcopal church in Roanoke, Virginia, United States. It was built in 1891–1892, and is a Gothic style blue-gray limestone church designed by Charles M. Burns of Philadelphia.
5 miNW
Church
Mount Moriah Baptist Church and Cemetery, Roanoke
129 min walk • Mount Moriah Baptist Church and Cemetery is a historic African-American Baptist church and cemetery located at Roanoke, Virginia. It was built about 1908, and is a small, one-story, rectangular frame church sheathed in weatherboard. It consists of a main sanctuary, a front vestibule, and a rear chancel bay.
5 miSW
Nature, Natural attraction, Mountain
Roanoke Mountain, Roanoke
128 min walk • Roanoke Mountain is a mountain in Virginia. It is located two miles south of the Roanoke River and one mile east of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The summit of Roanoke Mountain may be reached by a one-way loop road which branches off the Blue Ridge Parkway.
4.8 miNW
Church, Gothic Revival architecture
Belmont Methodist-Episcopal Church, Roanoke
122 min walk • Belmont Methodist-Episcopal Church is a historic church building, located in the Belmont neighborhood of Roanoke, Virginia. The building currently belongs to the Metropolitan Community Church of the Blue Ridge, who acquired the building in 2003 and use it as their sanctuary.