When visiting Roanoke, VA on our 50 state road trip last year, we drove up to the Mill Mountain Star at sunset to view the city from the overlook and watch the star’s illumination.
If you ever visit Roanoke, it’s a lovely place to visit in the evening and led to one of my favorite photos of Truffles seeing as the Mill Mountain Star (AKA the Roanoke Star) was reflected in her eye.
Shae and I recently returned to Roanoke for a couple of weeks and decided to head up to the Mill Mountain Star once again, only this time getting there via a different route.
You can drive partway up the mountain and hike the Mill Mountain Star trail the rest of the way to the top. It’s only ~3.5 mile round trip, so that seemed like a great way to ease back into things as we hadn’t gone hiking in a while.
There’s a parking lot at the start of the Mill Mountain Star trailhead with space for 12-15 cars. You can find the trailhead here on Google Maps so you can get directions on your phone.
The parking lot has an information board with a map of the mountain and its trails, as well as more information about each of the trails.
The Mill Mountain Star trail is one of only two trails which are for hiking use only. Most of the others can be used by horse riders, while all the other trails can be used by mountain bikers. If you want to ride one of the other trails on your bike, the trailhead has a bike fixing station and tire pump next to the parking lot.
We were there to hike though, so off we went. The trails are all pet-friendly, so we brought Truffles to hike the Mill Mountain Star trail with us. After a few days stuck in the hotel while we worked, she was ready to go.
The trails were all well marked, so there wasn’t any problem identifying which way we needed to go.
The trail started off with a fairly gentle incline before flattening out for a short distance.
The Star Trail is marked on the trail map as a yellow trail which is the same color as the trail blazes you’ll see on the trees as you hike along the route.
The trail continued going gently uphill, although it gets steeper later in the hike.
The Mill Mountain Star trail crosses over J P Fishburn Parkway, the road which leads up to the top of Mill Mountain.
Thankfully the point at which you cross the road gives you a good view of the road in both directions, so you can see if there are any cars coming from far enough away that you can cross over safely.
It was a beautiful day to go hiking – there was a bright, sunny sky without it being too hot while we hiked uphill. Most of the trail is through the woods, so there’s plenty of shade even if you’re hiking in the summer.
We hiked the Mill Mountain Star trail in mid-October, so we were also graced with some lovely fall colors as we went along.
While the trail isn’t too strenuous, there are a few benches along the trail where you can rest weary legs as necessary.
The Star trail connects with a couple of other trails along the route. These are all well marked, so there’s no danger of taking the wrong route.
The trail was very quiet the day we visited, so we had it to ourselves most of the time.
The trail isn’t too rocky, but it’s worth wearing a decent pair of shoes or, ideally, hiking boots.
After about 1.75 miles, you’ll see an opening ahead of you – you’ve made it!
The trail opens up to the parking lot at the top of Mill Mountain. There’s a restroom building which also has a vending machine outside in case you need anything cold to drink.
We’d brought a picnic with us, so we wandered along the path to the right of the restrooms until we got to a good-sized picnic shelter.
There were several other picnic tables on the grass around the shelter, as well as some grills if you want to have a cookout atop the mountain.
Quick tip. There’s an overlook at the top of Mill Mountain in front of the Mill Mountain Star which everyone goes to, but on this visit we discovered a second overlook which was much less busy (particularly helpful as we visited during the pandemic). To get to Rockledge Overlook, keep following the path down past the picnic shelter and it’ll be on your right.
This overlook also has a couple of picnic tables which we sadly didn’t realize until after eating our lunch – this would’ve been an even nicer spot to have lunch.
The overlook gives some beautiful views of downtown Roanoke and the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance.
After checking out that overlook, we walked back up the path to the Mill Mountain Star.
There were a few groups of people at the main overlook, but everyone did a great job of physical distancing. Everyone except Truffles who wanted to go say hi to everyone and get petted by them all.
This overlook also gives you great views of Roanoke and the nearby mountains, with a board giving you more information about some of the mountains you can see.
Before heading back downhill, we walked along the path around the Mill Mountain Star.
That led us back around to the top of the Star Trail, so we made our way back downhill.
At the start of our hike, we met a couple who suggested taking hiking sticks for the way down. I found the downhill route fine, but hiking sticks would indeed be a good idea if you want to be more assured of having steady footing.
Shae and I decided to reward ourselves by visiting Blue Cow Ice Cream once we got back to our car. It was only a few minutes away and was a great choice as their chocolate ice cream was delicious. Check out our post for more about why we loved Blue Cow Ice Cream.
We then stopped off at Starr Hill Pilot Brewery to have a quick drink. I got one of their stouts which was very tasty.
The brewery had some outdoor seating, so we continued enjoying the good weather and the view of Mill Mountain which we’d just hiked up and down.
All the hiking and excitement took it out of Truffles who found herself a comfy spot on the couch to sleep it off once we got back to the hotel.
Final Thoughts
We really enjoyed hiking the Mill Mountain Star Trail. At 3.5 miles round trip, it’s a great hike if you’re not looking for a more serious hike like the one up to McAfee Knob (which is also near Roanoke and has stunning views).
It’s a beautiful hike through the woods, especially if you visit with fall colors on display. It’s not too strenuous but it’s still a good workout, plus you’re rewarded with nice views of downtown Roanoke and the Blue Ridge Mountains when you reach the top.
This was super helpful! Thanks so much!