Retire-VA 2021 - 24

LEFT:
Watch out for bikers on
Mill Mountain.

a beautiful forest. (Watch out for mountain

Valley Greenway extension over the bottom

bikers here.)

hump of Tinker Mountain to Carvins Cove

Green Hill Park is the capstone of Salem's

and the road circling the campus itself.

hiking experience. It is one of Roanoke's

The greenway trail has some elevation in

largest wide-open parks with a 10-foot-

its three miles but is easy to moderate and

wide mostly-paved walking surface. The

you can often see deer and occasionally a

park is home to everything from Roanoke

bear or two. The campus trail is paved and

River swimming to a hot air balloon festival,

offers a couple of hills to climb. It is about a

Scottish games and even polo matches. The

35-minute walk.

hike is relatively short and easy.
Murray Run in Raleigh Court offers a nice

Hay Rock links to the Appalachian Trail
after a fairly difficult 45-minute climb just

piece of woodland walking on the edge

off I-81 in Botetourt County. About a third

of one of Roanoke's neighborhoods. It

of the hike-all at the beginning-is at a

meanders past Patrick Henry High's track

steep incline, so it's not an easy walk, but

and includes the school's cross country

the view of Carvins Cove at the top is simply

track as it makes its way to Fishburn Park

breathtaking. You can hike along the ridge

and the "creekside" trail. It comes in at a

for a couple of miles with the cove in sight

little less than a three-mile walk and is easy

nearly the entire way on one side and the

to navigate.

Roanoke Valley on the other side.

Hollins University offers two popular
hikes (that we'll count as one): the Roanoke

24 / Retire-VA.com / RETIRE-VA 2021

Goode Park Trail in Vinton is one of
two easy trails in the town, one through a
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