Roanoke: Trails on Mill Mountain and culture in the city

Roanoke brings together an urban network of parks and trails with museums, art, and historic sites. To plan your visit, you can focus on your specific interests: trails and scenery around Mill Mountain, or architecture, history, and exhibitions in the city.

Trails, scenery, and views

Roanoke’s urban park network includes 70 parks covering more than 14,000 acres. Its trail system spans more than 100 miles and includes natural-surface and paved trails for road cycling, mountain biking, hiking, and horseback riding. Mill Mountain Park has more than 15 miles of natural-surface trails for hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding. Mill Mountain is also home to a 2.5-acre wildflower garden.

The Mill Mountain Greenway connects Downtown Roanoke with the Roanoke Star on Mill Mountain. Erected in 1949, the Star offers views of the surrounding valley and the Blue Ridge Mountains. To reach the Star from the Blue Ridge Parkway, take the exit for Mill Mountain Parkway at milepost 120. Check road conditions before you set out.

The Mill Mountain Zoo is a refuge for critically endangered and endangered animals, as well as animals that cannot be released into the wild because of injury or captivity. Its educational programs align with Virginia’s SOL education standards. This gives a visit to the zoo a clear connection to conservation and education.

Architecture and history

The self-guided Downtown Roanoke Walking Tour passes historic buildings, art, and architecture. In the Roanoke City Market Historic District, the buildings showcase commercial architectural styles from the late 19th to the early 20th century. Visitors interested in the city’s development and architectural history will find a range of historical points of interest here.

The Virginia Museum of Transportation is located in a century-old freight station in Downtown Roanoke. Its collection includes steam, diesel, and electric locomotives. The site and the types of locomotives on display connect the building’s history with different forms of rail transport.

The Harrison Museum of African American Culture was founded in 1985 through a community-led initiative to preserve the historic Harrison School, Roanoke’s first high school for Black students. The museum’s location at Melrose Plaza, which opened in 2025, includes galleries and event spaces.

The History Museum of Western Virginia traces the development of the Roanoke Valley through exhibitions and artifacts. Changing exhibitions offer new perspectives on local history, while interactive displays and educational programs complement the experience. This lets you explore both the region’s long-term development and a range of changing topics.

Art, science, and interactive exhibits

The Taubman Museum of Art has eleven galleries as part of the Fralin Center for American Art. The museum presents 15 to 20 exhibitions each year. This makes a visit appealing to travelers who want to explore art not just through individual works, but across a variety of exhibitions.

The seven-story Center in the Square in Downtown Roanoke houses museums, theaters, aquariums, and educational offerings. On the third floor is Kids Square, a children’s museum with a miniature town, construction zone, sensory bay, and forest area for gross motor activities. The Construction Zone combines role-play with content related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; in the Forest Exhibit, children can climb, slide, and explore.

At the Science Museum of Western Virginia, The Eye serves as an exhibit, theater, planetarium, event space, and classroom. Its curated content covers astronomy, art, and film. At the Parakeet Garden, guests can feed parakeets and interact with them up close. The Roanoke Pinball Museum offers a different interactive perspective: it explores the science, art, and history of pinball, with games spanning nearly a century of production—from the 1930s to today.

Discover more destinations: Hollins, Cave Spring, Vinton, Bent Mountain.

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