The Roanoker March/April 2022 - 61

M
arketing campaigns
tend toward obese
rhetoric, but when
the hiking triumvirate
of McAfee Knob,
Dragon's Tooth and Tinker Cliffs became
" Virginia's Triple Crown, " nobody was thinking
of horse racing.
Those are clustered
destinations in Roanoke
County's brief segment of
the Appalachian Trail. The
Roanoke Valley, of course,
is the largest metropolitan
area on the trail, which
meanders up and down
mountains from Georgia to
Maine, 2,190 miles through
14 states. Virginia's 550.3
miles is nearly a fourth of
the AT. The Crown is the
glamorpuss of a hiking
statement that deserves an
exclamation point.
In the Roanoke Valley,
the AT crosses the counties
of Craig, Montgomery,
Roanoke, Botetourt and
Bedford.
Pete Eshelman, who
heads GO Outside for
the Roanoke Regional
Partnersip, says, " With over
1,000 miles of trail within
an hour of Roanoke, it is
easy to find the path less
traveled. The strength of
our outdoors is its diversity.
No matter the activity -
paddling, cycling, fishing,
hiking - there are endless
choices to explore. And
nowhere is this more
evident than in the region's
trails.
" Fr om the iconic
Appalachian Trail, to greenways
connecting communities,
to hidden gems waiting to be discovered,
the number of trails waiting to be explored
are not only attractive to visitors but are also
helping convince people that Roanoke is a
great place to live. Trails help sell the region as
a place to live; within minutes of clocking out
of work a person can leave the stress of work
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hundred yards in length to many miles of challenging
ridge running. The valley has made a
point of emphasizing its history, geography,
opportunity and love of the outdoors. Young
people move here for the views, the strolls, the
full-gear hikes. Old people choose to die here
for the same reasons. The valley is one of the
behind and find rejuvenation in nature. "
Eshelman says bluntly that " Roanoke's
easy access to trails is a strong selling point.
No matter where a person lives, a trailhead is
nearby. "
Roanoke hiking is not top-heavy. The trails
within an hour or two of downtown range
from casual walks to hard climbs, from a few
world's most desirable gardens, those who live
here will tell you.
And the hiking? Let's take a brief look,
though this could easily be (and has been) a
book.
The beginning, of course, is the Triple
Crown, three high points along the
Appalachian Trail, spanning about 35 miles
and featuring overhead
views of Roanoke, Carvins
Cove (the city's water
supply, which looks like the
Hudson River Valley from
above) and the impressive
ridges and valleys of our
corner of the world.
There are various access
points for the hikes, but
the most-used is likely
Catawba Mountain (on
top and down the valley),
which has been so crowded
in recent times that cars
have been towed from along
Virginia 311. These are not
easy hikes and sometimes
they are claustrophobic ...
until the often-spectacular
breakout views that make
the sweat and sore muscles
worthwhile.
As impressive as the
Bottom Creek
Crown is nationally and
internationally, Roanokers
know it is but a small part
of the hiking system, which
includes a jaw-dropping
400 miles of greenway
trails, according to greenways.org.
They have all been
built since 1995, mostly
under the estimable guidance
of Liz Belcher, who
retired in the fall of 2022.
According to its greenway
website, Asheville, the
second largest city along
the Appalachian Trail and
the Blue Ridge Parkway, brags of its 10.5-mile
greenway system. Asheville considers itself a
city friendly to walkers/hikers.
The Roanoke Valley greenway trails
feature major paved segments, often along
the Roanoke River, and a series of separate
spurs that amble through Roanoke, Vinton,
MARCH/APRIL 2022 61
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The Roanoker March/April 2022

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