Roanoke Rapids City Recreation and Parks Department provides a
well-rounded program year-round at its various facilities. It publishes a brochure of its
programs on a quarterly basis. Athletic programs offered include soccer, basketball,
baseball, softball, swimming, road races, and football. Other activities also programmed
are arts and crafts, music, dance, summer camps, and playground programs and special
events. The department also has a very active Senior Citizens program through the Jo Story
Senior Center. Activities include club meetings, bingo, card games, exercise programs,
covered dish dinners, seasonal events and trips.
The City of Roanoke Rapids operates a
newly renovated and expanded T.J. Davis Recreation Center which offers two gyms, an indoor
walking track, game room, multipurpose rooms, and an arts and crafts room. An award
winning Aquatics Center offers aquatic exercise for adults and senior citizens, as will as
a full array of instructional classes and open swim. Other facilities include two indoor
pools, twelve parks with picnic shelters, trails, play equipment, fifteen lighted tennis
courts, eight lighted athletic fields, and other amenities.
The Roanoke Canal Commission operates a 7.5 mile historic and natural trail that
follows the Historic Navigation Canal that parallels the Roanoke River. The trail has many
beautiful areas, and highlights a stone aqueduct built in the early 1800s.
Also available through the Recreation Department is the Kirkwood Adams Community
Center. The center is able to accommodate small conventions, meetings, large banquets,
dances, and special events. It is available for public use at reasonable rates.
The Roanoke Rapids area has a eighteen-lane bowling alley with open and league bowling,
two indoor theaters, a skating rink, stock car racing, a football recreation area, dance
reviews, band and choral concerts, dramatic presentations, and art exhibits.
Chockoyotte Country Club, a private club, has an eighteen-hole golf course, a
clubhouse, tennis courts, and a swimming pool. Myrick Estates, a private club, has an
eighteen-hole course. There is a public golf course and driving range at Lake Gaston Golf
Course on Lake Gaston at Gasburg, Virginia. There is also a semi-private course, Scotfield
Golf Course, located between Enfield and Scotland Neck and a public course, Hickory
Meadows, at Whitakers. Northampton County has Pine Valley Golf Course in Lasker.
The Roanoke River is considered by many fishermen to be one of the best fishing places
anywhere. The area is known as the Rockfish Capital of the World. With continued good
management and fishermen's common sense, rockfish should be in high supply for many years
to come in the river. The best times for fishing for the striped bass on the Roanoke River
are from mid-March to mid-June. Regulations for fishing are constantly monitored by the
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission to assure that the fishing industry is not
abused. There are numerous fishing guides who provide service for fishing in the area.
Roanoke Rapids Lake borders the city on the west side. The city maintains a recreation
area on its beautiful shores. The lake has forty-seven miles of shoreline and has been
stocked with all kinds of fresh water fish.
Lake Gaston, located nine miles west of Roanoke Rapids and five miles north of
Littleton, is thirty-four miles long and has three-hundred and fifty miles of shoreline.
Both lakes provide facilities for all types of water sports, boating, skiing, etc. There
are numerous commercial and privately-owned boat landings around the shoreline, and public
beaches offer camping facilities. There are six state-maintained wildlife public
boat landings, and a Boy Scout camping area. There is also a unique
youth camp, Camp Willow Run, located in Littleton on Lake Gaston using
a 19th century railroad theme.
