Noke News explores parts of Roanoke by foot, equipped with a camera and a notepad, in hopes of learning something new. Perhaps you will too.

This is Part 7 in an Exploring Roanoke series that covers: the current (as of May, 2008) entire nearly 6 miles of the Roanoke River Greenway, Wasena Park, The Skate Park, Smith Park, Piedmont Park, and lots of scenery along the way.

(For a general introduction to the greenway system in Roanoke, you may want to first visit a previous post.)

Distance: approx. 1/2 mile

Up until this point, Parts 1-6 (approx 2 miles) that I’ve written about, as a whole seem to be the most popular section of the Roanoke River Greenway. But, this is only about 1/3 the length of the overall greenway.

For a little while myself I even thought, as pleasant a walk as it is being primarily along Wiley Drive, that it all ends near the entrance to Roanoke Memorial Hospital. After all, I didn’t see a sign or marker to let me know where to keep going.

So, where’s the rest of the greenway?

This part in the series serves mainly as a way to explain how the Roanoke River Greenway ends, and then starts again, and how to make the connection to keep going.

During Part 6, when the walk on Wiley Drive ends the pathway continues on a sidewalk. Roanoke Memorial Hospital in ahead in the distance, and Rivers Edge Park is on our right side across the street.

Walk under the railroad bridge and cross over Jefferson Street. Then, take a left on Hamilton Terrace and then left again onto Piedmost Street.

A sidewalk on Piedmont Street is on the opposite side of the road, so I typically cross over Piedmont and continue walking. A large parking garage will be on our right.

Walking along Piedmont Street, the greenway and river are ahead on the other side of the road.

Continue walking a short distance on the sidewalk until nearly at a lower entrance to the parking garage. Look across the street for a clearing, marked with red paint on the pavement.

Re-entering the Roanoke River Greenway, Piedmont Street is the road on the right.

This is where the Roanoke River Greenway picks back up, the river is still on our left side.

Getting to this point is a slight inconvenience in requiring having to cross streets and watch for automobiles, but after making the connection once or twice I found it much easier.

There is a bit of the downside part of a hill ahead, and then the path narrows back to the standard greenway widith.

Next up in Part 8: Piedmont Park and maybe a duck crossing.