Pete’s Pick: Mountain Bike Center Part of Explore Park Update

Explore Park keeps getting better all the time.

After the addition of camping and disc golf last summer, Explore Park will also get a Mountain Bike Center. This month, the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors accepted a $323,484 grant from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Recreational Trails Program for the construction of mountain bike trails and a trailhead at Explore Park. This funding will be combined with a 25 percent match from Roanoke County, as well as capital funds and sponsorship revenue to build a destination facility.

The park will be built in three phases with the first expected to be ready in the coming summer. It will include 8,550 linear feet of new and rehabilitated mountain bike trails, plus a trailhead and parking area. Most of the trails will be single track with natural surfaces, but some will have optional skill features made of rock or other natural materials. The core skills area will contain several concentric loops of varying skill levels, including one beginner level trail with an aggregate surface.

This is pretty exciting news for mountain bikers of all levels in the Roanoke Region (the only IMBA Silver Level Ride Center on the East Coast).

You can keep up with what’s happening at Explore Park here from Roanoke County Parks and Recreation, and learn more about the bike center project from The Roanoke Times.