Roanoke, Clifton Forge Named Top Adventure Towns

Top Adventure Town has a nice ring to it.

And two locations in the Roanoke Region can claim that title for the next year.

Roanoke and Clifton Forge are Top Adventure Town winners in the annual ranking from Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine.

The region is earning quite a reputation when it comes to top town honors:

• Roanoke earned Top Adventure Town (Large) in 2016, Top Mid-Sized Town in 2015, Best Trail Town in 2013, and was voted Best Mountain Town in 2012.
• Clifton Forge was also named a Top Adventure Town (small) in 2018.

“It’s pretty awesome that two of the four winners this year are from the Roanoke Region,” says Pete Eshelman with the Roanoke Outside Foundation. “There aren’t too many places with such easy access to such a diverse offering of outdoor recreation opportunities, but we are lucky to have a lot of opportunities right here.”

A community invested in the outdoors is more than just good for the adventure-seeker. Places that invest in bike paths, parks and recreational assets, as well as in infrastructure that improves walkability have demonstrably better outcomes in important areas of health for their residents. (Learn more.)

Earning recognition from a publication such as Blue Ridge Outdoors helps, too! It helps spread what we already know in the Roanoke Region to people in other locations that may not know what a hopping outdoor spot this is.

You can read the full feature from Blue Ridge Outdoors in the November/December issue.