Dig In Details

We at Blue Ridge Off-Road Cyclists (BROC) have been invited by the County of Roanoke, VA, to build multiple mountain bike trails at the county’s Explore Park. Located just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, Explore Park's 1,100 acres features hundreds of acres of rolling hills, pristine woodlands, river frontage, and a visitor information center. These amenities are located within 15 minutes of downtown Roanoke’s population core. With the surge in people of all ages who are becoming interested in mountain biking, the county has identified an opportunity to better serve county residents and visitors to the area by enhancing the mountain biking resources within the park. BROC is building a .3-mile intermediate jump-line trail, the first of its kind in the Roanoke area. Currently, Roanoke does not have any intermediate jump-lines. In addition, BROC is also building a one-mile beginner trail. This trail will be a peaceful nature trial that will follow a meandering creak with waterfalls through an Old-growth forest.

The grant money will be used to pay for the rental of an excavator in order to build an approximately 1400' intermediate jump-line trail and a one-mile Beginner trail. Funds will also be used to purchase materials and supplies for the trail construction.
These 2 trails will help serve Vinton, Roanoke County and Roanoke city. This area has been neglected over the years and the existing trails have fallen out of use. This project hopes to build new interests in the Explore Park trails and provide recreational opportunities for residents closer to the center of the population areas. People will eventually be able to ride directly from the city center to Explore Park via a greenway and on to the natural surface trail there within. Currently, Roanoke doesn't have any intermediate jump lines for people to progress on to build up their skills for more advanced trails. This is one of our most substantial shortcomings in the Roanoke area. The only jump line in Roanoke is an advanced trail that has limited access roughly three miles from the parking area with almost a thousand feet of climbing to access the trailhead. The new jump line at Explore Park will have immediate access next to the parking lot. Making it safer and more accessible to new riders. This project will make significant contributions to the mountain bike infrastructure of the Roanoke area. The beginner trail will give people direct access to the natural surface trails from the greenway. People will no longer have to ride on public streets with car traffic to get to the Explore Park trails. The Dig in grant will provide the majority of the funding for this project.