Biking on Mill Mountain Park in Roanoke, VA

Looking for good mountain bike trails in Roanoke, VA? How about biking on Mill Mountain Park!

Continued from Dec 24-25, 2017 – An Appalachian Trail White Christmas at Whitetop Mountain and Elk Garden in Virginia

Tuesday (Dec 26, 2017) – Mountain Biking on Mill Mountain | Roanoke, VA

In the morning, we had our breakfast in our car and watched a movie on Netflix. Where we camped was pretty good (37.15779009112041, -80.0867321690193). We got good phone service.

Note: However, we do not advise you to camp there because we have found out later that the area is not a part of National Forest.

When we were getting ready to leave, Trent found out that one of the car’s tires had low air pressure.  It was our first time to use our bike pump with a car tire. It worked well and Trent got pretty good morning warm-up. It was from the cold. Sometimes when the weather temperature changes to very cold drastically, it can cause your tires to lose some air pressure..

By 10 am, we were heading to Mill Mountain Park in Roanoke, VA. We stopped by to rinse the salt off our car and bikes. In winter, salt is being used to avoid icy road.  Also we went ahead and grabbed some early lunch from Kroger and ate it in our car.

We got to Mill Mountain Park at 11.55 am. The view up there was stunning. It offers 180 degree view of the mountains and the city below. And of course, you can’t miss the Roanoke star up there!

We started our ride at 12.45 pm.

Mill Mountain Ride | Roanoke, VA

Distance 9.5 mi,  Elevation 1,367 ft, Moving Time: 1:38:05, Energy Output: 488, Elapsed Time: 2:13:18

More information of our ride is here. https://www.strava.com/activities/1328270421 And if you want, you can follow Trent’s Strava too!

Trent was trying to cover as many trails as possible, so we made a big loop around the mountain. We did Ridgeline trail, Riser trail, Big Sunny Trail, then cut into a housing area, then cut back to Crystal Spring Trail, then we rode in to the city, and cut on to Roanoke River Greenway. After that, we had to climb back up. We rode on Wood Thrush Trail, and did a little loop on Virginia Pine Trail Loop, got back on Ridgeline trail, and Understory trail before getting back to the top at 3.10 pm again.

Then it was the time for us to take our first shower of the trip!

Showered at Pilot

We went to take a shower at Pilot Travel Center on Lee Hwy S, Troutville, VA. It costs $12/person. They provide clean and fresh towels and soap.

Then we headed to Blue Ridge Parkway to find a camp spot. This time it took us a while to find a spot. We were struggling. We stopped by to check at the area around the AT (Appalachian Trail) trailhead by BRPW but Trent couldn’t find a fire ring. It was already dark when we were up there. He needed to make a fire to cook his dinner. We’re driving around checking a bunch of spots on BRPW. Until 9.30 pm, Trent decided to go back to camp at where we camped the night before (37.15779009112041, -80.0867321690193). It wasn’t close to where we were at. It took us 30 mins to get there.

I was already tired and decided to skip the dinner and slept in the car. Trent was still hungry. He found a fire ring further away from the road and back in the woods and cook his food. This was that day we found out that this area is not a part of National Forest. Someone drove by and saw our car and the fire called the cop on us. The cop came. I woke up after Trent and the cop already had a conversation.

Trent told him that we came from Atlanta and thought that this was a part of National Forest. He made a fire to only cook his food. The cop was really nice and told him that the area is not a part of National Forest, so we couldn’t camp here. But since Trent was still cooking his dinner, he told Trent that he could finish making his dinner, extinguish the fire, and move later. He told Trent that it was okay to camp around the area that close to AT (Appalachian Trail) because it was a part of National Forest.

After Trent had his dinner, we drove back to where we were before (around the AT trailhead) 37.424638, -79.757284. We car camped there for the rest of the night.

It was a long night for us.

“Hardship often prepares an ordinary person for an extraordinary destiny.” – C.S. Lewis

Continued Christmas Trip – Dec 27 at Carvins Cove

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