Wheres the best mountain biking around Roanoke?
Below are five fantastic places to mountain bike. • Close to town is Carvins Cove, a roughly 11,000-acre watershed for the city’s main reservoir. It is open to the public (there’s a small daily fee of $3) and is chock full of both relatively flat, low-lying trails and steep climbs and awesome descents, if that’s what you like. This place is great for Roanoke mountain bikers of all stripes. If you don’t like single-track, there’s a seven-mile fire road around it. Some of my articles about Carvins Cove are: Carvins Cove’s lower trails The mystery of ClownHead The Gauntlet Carvins loop The Fun House Carvins Cove for the kids And here is a good Carvins Cove Trail map. • About an hour north of Roanoke, near Clifton Forge, is the pristine Douthat State Park. It’s gorgeous and mountainous, with beautifully groomed trails, gorgeous views, challenging climbs and wild and wooly descents. There a lake with a great beach and swimming, plenty of camping and even cabins you can rent. • A little more
