Star Trail in Mill Mountain Park

 We've been to the Roanoke Star a time or two, but never via the Star Trail.  After tackling the short hike at Roaring Run, we decided to make the not-quite-an-hour drive to Roanoke to do the Star Trail too.  At ~3.3 miles out and back, it was a mostly steady (but nothing too steep) uphill on the way to the star and thus a steady downhill back.  The trail isn't much to write home about, but it's nice to have some protected woods in the middle of the city. And the view of Roanoke from the star is pretty neat.

The Roanoke Star

At the parking area

Partial map of Mill Mountain.  We took the Star-Woodthrush Connector Trail (just a gravel road) to the Star Trail and back again.  It was ~3.3 miles total give or take.

Roaring Run

 

An easy, less than two mile loop trail to a beautiful waterfall.  The streamside trail paralleled a pretty creek, and the Woodland trail added some variation on the way back.  The old iron furnace was also a neat attraction!

The furnace

The falls

Honey poses near the creek

On the trail

The trail map