Roanoke County is pleased to announce the introduction of overnight camping at Explore Park beginning Friday, June 15.

Guests can choose to rent primitive sites, group sites, canvas tents and tipis year-round, with convenient access to the Blue Ridge Parkway. These facilities will be operated by Blue Mountain Adventures, one of several vendor partners developing new recreation amenities at Explore Park.

Blue Mountain Adventures will continue adding additional campsites throughout the park including raised platform canopy camping areas. In October another local company, Don’s Cab-Inns, will be opening several pod cabins and yurts at Explore Park. Roanoke County is currently developing plans for a bathhouse to serve all overnight guests at the park, with scheduled completion this fall.

“We are excited to be a part of these new opportunities coming to Explore Park,” says Holly Hart, co-owner of Blue Mountain Adventures. “Virginia’s Blue Ridge Region is filled with fantastic places to hike, bike and paddle. Our goal in developing these campsites is to make it easier for people to get outside and stay outside! We hope that our guests will be able to focus on the adventure while we take care of the details.”

Overnight accommodations are a vital amenity identified in the Explore Park Adventure Plan, adopted by the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors in August 2016. These new camping areas will be enhanced by other new recreation attractions such as the Mayflower Hills Disc Golf, Niagara Ranch equestrian services (summer 2018) and Treetop Quest aerial adventure course (spring 2019).

More information about overnight camping and online campsite reservations can be found at www.ExplorePark.org/Camping.

-Submitted by Scott Ramsburg, Roanoke County Parks Administration