Read Mountain is located in the Roanoke River Valley just a little north of the city of Roanoke. The 1.9 mile hike to the top gives the hiker some great views of the Roanoke Valley and surrounding area from a lookout point named Buzzard’s Rocks. From this point you can see the northeast portion of Roanoke County and parts of Botetourt County. Getting to the trailhead was a little tricky as it is located in a residential area. The access road IS  marked, you just have to look for it. Thankfully, the folks who put together the Seven Summits of Roanoke program took the time to put together very good directions and we didn’t waste any time. We completed this hike in the early morning hours and were greeted by a young deer at the trailhead. It was still there when we came back through about an hour and a half later but I wasn’t able to get a picture. According to the park website, it should take the average hiker about 2.5 hours to complete the trail. We did it in about 90 minutes and took several breaks along the way up.