The Roanoke River ( ) runs long through southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States. A major river of the southeastern United States, it drains a largely rural area of the coastal plain from the eastern edge of the Appalachian Mountains southeast across the Piedmont to Albemarle Sound. An important river throughout the history of the United States, it was the site of early settlement in the Virginia Colony and the Carolina Colony. An section of its lower course in Virginia between the Leesville Lake and Kerr Lake is known as the Staunton River, pronounced , as is the Shenandoah Valley city of that name. It is impounded along much of its middle course to form a chain of reservoirs.

Staunton River is also the name of the northern political district of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, where a large section of the river serves as the boundary between Campbell County, Virginia (to the north), Halifax County, Virginia (to the south east) and Pittsylvania County (to the south west).

The Roanoke River State Trail is a paddle trail which follows the lower portion of the river, from Roanoke Rapids to the Albemarle Sound. The river's lower course began to be settled by Virginians about the middle of the 17th century, in what was known as the Albemarle Settlements. The upper reaches of the Roanoke River were explored by fur trading parties sent by Abraham Wood in the late 17th century, but these were not settled by English until the early 18th century.

In 1883, the small town of Big Lick on the river was selected as a major shops and terminal point for the new Norfolk and Western Railway to meet the Shenandoah Valley Railroad. Big Lick was renamed Roanoke for the river that bisected it, as the surrounding Roanoke County had been in 1838.

The Roanoke River was prone to serious flooding prior to the completion of the John H. Kerr Dam in 1953. Construction of the dam was precipitated by the 1940 South Carolina hurricane, which caused record flooding in the Roanoke River basin and led to calls for better flood control mechanisms.

In 1997, the non-profit Roanoke River Partners formed to create a paddle trail along the river in North Carolina. The group established a system of river accesses and camping platforms between Roanoke Rapids and the Albemarle Sound, known as the Roanoke River Paddle Trail.

  • Roanoke River Basin Association
  • Roanoke River Partners