Explore Park is a 1,100-acre regional park on the Blue Ridge Parkway near where the Roanoke River leaves the Roanoke Valley in Virginia, spanning mostly Roanoke County and part of Bedford County. Created from a 1980s tourism initiative, it opened in 1994 as a living history museum focused on the early history of Southwest Virginia, with reconstructed and relocated 18th- and 19th-century buildings interpreting settlement, worship, work, and trade. Financial struggles ended that role after 2007, and the site shifted to passive recreation in 2008. Reopened under Roanoke County management in 2013, it remains important for combining Blue Ridge scenery, river access, and preserved regional architecture.