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Roanoke Canal Museum & Trail Brochure

The Roanoke Canal Bike Loaner Program

Roanoke Canal Museum & Trail Profile Sheet

Lovingly called “North Carolina’s longest museum.” Enjoy the two-level, interactive museum that utilizes traditional and interactive exhibits to explain how the original canal was built and turned the Roanoke River into a superhighway of commerce during the early 19th century. The canal was transformed from a trade route into a hydroelectric power resource just over a century ago before becoming what it is today.

Along the entire 7.5-mile length of the trail that follows the former Roanoke Navigation and Power Canal, see some of the most impressive and best preserved early 19th century canal construction in the nation, including hand-hewn stone culvert, power canal bulkhead, locks, and an aqueduct that spans 35- feet in a single arch. It's one of the greatest engineering feats of the 18th century.

Today the trail offers a free bike lending program as another way to explore! Pick up a bike at the Roanoke Canal Museum or at Riverside Mill in Weldon.

The trail is a site on the NC Coastal Plains Birding Trail.

Organizing a tour for groups? Want to learn more? Check out our Brochures above.

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