Despite visiting Roanoke a couple of times in the past, Shae and I had never seen the city’s star close up.
The Mill Mountain Star (AKA The Roanoke Star) is found at the top of Mill Mountain, close to the Mill Mountain Zoo. You can see the star from quite a distance in Roanoke, although it’s far more noticeable at night time when it becomes illuminated.
We headed there just before sunset on our final night in Roanoke. The road leads you all the way up to the star, with a parking lot at the top. The parking lot was pretty busy when we arrived and we managed to grab the last spot, although people were coming and going all the time.
Mill Mountain looks out over downtown Roanoke and the sun was already starting to set by the time we arrived.
The Mill Mountain Star is very large. So large in fact that it’s the world’s largest man-made star.
Beneath the star is a marker with information all about it.
In case that text is too small for you to be able to read, here’s what it says:
The Roanoke Star
World’s largest man-made star. Erected in 1949 as a symbol of the progressive spirit of Roanoke, star city of the south.
Height of steel structure – 100 ft.
Height of star – 88.5 ft.
Weight of star – 10,000 lbs.
Weight of steel structure – 60,000 lbs.
Weight of concrete base – 500,000 lbs.
Depth of base – 6.5 ft.
Length of neon tubing – 2,000 ft.
Current consumed – 17,500 watts
Height above sea level – 1,847 ft.
Height above city – 1.045 ft.
Visibility from the air – 60 miles
Several possible color combinations illuminated every night till 12.
If you head up there, keep an eye out for the Mill Mountain StarCam. It points out over Roanoke, so check here to see if you can see yourself live. For example, here’s a shot from the StarCam the night I wrote this post.
Although the sun sets a little to the west of the overlook, the colors of the evening sky still looked beautiful.
As it got darker, the Mill Mountain Star lit up. It’s illuminated with white lights year-round, other than Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, September 11 and Veteran’s Day when it’s lit up red, white and blue.
Shae being the genius that she is had a great idea. She took a photo of Truffles looking up at the star so that it reflected in her eyes. The photo below is the end result and no, it’s not Photoshopped – it really is that cool!
We stayed up there for about 45 minutes, enjoying the ever-changing colors of the evening sky.
Final Thoughts
I can’t believe we’d never made the effort to visit the Mill Mountain Star on our previous trips to Roanoke. The views of downtown Roanoke and the Roanoke Valley are lovely, especially if you go at sunset when the star gets illuminated.
As a free, pet and family-friendly activity, it’s something definitely worth doing when in Roanoke.
Address
Mill Mountain Star, 2000 J B Fishburn Pkwy, Roanoke, VA 24014
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