Depicting life at various points in Virginia’s long history, the living-history Explore Park (closed Mon. & Tues.; $8; 540/427-8508 or 800/842-9163) sits off the Blue Ridge Parkway at milepost 115, near Roanoke’s Mill Mountain. Interpreters portraying Native Americans and frontier families tend the working farm and its crops and animals, but are happy to demonstrate colonial skills, including loading and firing flintlock muskets, flint-and-steel firemaking, crafts, and cooking. Eight miles of hiking and mountain bike trails loop past the re-created buildings into the surrounding countryside. You can stop for lunch or dinner at the Brugh Tavern, a restored inn that once served travelers on the Great Wagon Road in the early 19th century.
