Virginia's Explore Park is a currently closed living history museum; however, recreational facilities are open to the public. The park is located at milepost 115 on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Roanoke County, Virginia. It includes various restored local historical structures and both hiking and biking trails, along with access to the Roanoke River for recreational use via an external county road. The park is located near the gorge where the Roanoke River leaves the Roanoke Valley.
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Explore Park was founded in 1985 by the River Foundation to draw visitors driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Roanoke area. Land was acquired and the site became a Virginia state park. Early ideas included an expanded Mill Mountain Zoo and a historical theme park that would educate visitors on the journey of Lewis and Clark through the American frontier. Roanoke's then city manager Bern Ewart left his post to oversee the park's development. A lack of investment funds led the park to become a more modest living history museum focused on the early history of Southwest Virginia. Today's Explore Park began to emerge in late 1991 when reconstruction began on the 1837 Hofauger House of Roanoke County. Between 1991 and 2002 various other historical structures including a working tavern and grist mill were added to the property.
In 2001 Roanoke County made a long term financial commitment to the park when Virginia reduced the park's annual appropriation. The county later signed an option for a 100 year lease with Larry Vander Maten, a Florida based entrepreneur, to develop Explore Park into a viable business. On April 28, 2009, Vander Maten revealed a plan to open a resort named "Blue Ridge America" featuring amenities which include an equestrian center, man-made lakes, retail shops, a golf course, conference center, spa and a system of overhead gondolas to transport visitors around the park. Mr. Vander Maten was unable to raise the necessary funds, and the lease option was allowed to expire.[1]
On October 16, 2007, the Roanoke Times reported that the park would not reopen for the 2008 season after the 2007 season ended on November 18.[2]