Montgomery County

The region’s most populous county, Montgomery County is a rapidly urbanizing county, with growth spurred on by Virginia Tech and focused on the Blacksburg-Christiansburg corridor. The Eastern Continental Divide splits the county more or less in half, with the eastern half of the county draining into the Roanoke River and the Atlantic Ocean, and the more elevated western half draining into the New River and the Gulf of Mexico. A tiny portion of Brush Mountain drains into the James River basin.

Much of the northern portion of Montgomery County is part of the Jefferson National Forest, where recreational opportunities abound. The western portion of the county sits on a rolling plateau that is some 1,000 feet above the Roanoke Valley to the east. The New River, one of the oldest, most geologically interesting, and threatened rivers in the world, forms most of the county’s western border.

The Blue Ridge Land Conservancy protects about 440 acres of land in Montgomery County and more than 1.5 miles of the North Fork of the Roanoke River with two conservation agreements.

McDonald’s Mill along the north fork of the Roanoke River, protected with a conservation agreement by the Blue Ridge Land Conservancy and the Virginia Outdoors Foundation.