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Medium Walk, Large View, Small Time

Part of the beauty of this hike is that, if you live in Roanoke and have a rushed weekend to squeeze a hike into, you can be to its trailhead in 20 minutes.

Tinker Cliffs Times 20: Still New

You do a hike for the 20th time over a seven-plus-year period and you ought to know its every twist and turn. Which we pretty much do for this favorite, though of course there are always a few small surprises:

New Trails in the Roanoke Valley

The recently cut trails in the preserve illustrate with just about every step of the walk the mammoth work of trail building.

Kurt’s Hikes: Good Afternoon, Irene

On this day, we took a new-to-us short route up, to look over and see Hurricane Irene hit the Virginia coast.

Walking the Roanoke Valley Horse Trail, Looking for Parkway Plan Answers

The Blue Ridge Parkway is seeking comment on a new trail plan for the Roanoke Valley section of the parkway. See it here: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/roanokevalleytrailplan

Current Issue

Gail looks out over Carvins Cove from the Appalachian Trail.

Medium Walk, Large View, Small Time

Part of the beauty of this hike is that, if you live in Roanoke and have a rushed weekend to squeeze a hike into, you can be to its trailhead in 20 minutes.

Tinker Cliffs Times 20: Still New

You do a hike for the 20th time over a seven-plus-year period and you ought to know its every twist and turn. Which we pretty much do for this favorite, though of course there are always a few small surprises:
Fruit of the piratebush, one of the rarest shrubs in the Eastern mountains.

New Trails in the Roanoke Valley

The recently cut trails in the preserve illustrate with just about every step of the walk the mammoth work of trail building.

Kurt’s Hikes: Good Afternoon, Irene

On this day, we took a new-to-us short route up, to look over and see Hurricane Irene hit the Virginia coast.

Walking the Roanoke Valley Horse Trail, Looking for Parkway Plan Answers

The Blue Ridge Parkway is seeking comment on a new trail plan for the Roanoke Valley section of the parkway. See it here: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/roanokevalleytrailplan
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Departments

At Coopers Rock State Forest, new Stargazer cabins invite guests to look up through skylights and telescopes.
Country Roads

Even Closer to Almost Heaven

New Stargazer cabins at Coopers Rock State Forest offer a skyward escape in the mountains of West Virginia.

June 29, 2026
©Duncan Seaman
Country Roads

A Mountain Tradition Turns 90 

Visitors flock to Galax, Virginia, each summer for the Old Fiddlers’ Convention, a days-long celebration of Appalachian music.

June 29, 2026
Synchronous Fireflies
Creature Feature

The Light Fantastic

Fireflies are struggling with the effects of artificial light.

June 29, 2026

CALENDAR OF EVENTS