Craig County is located in the the western portion of the

Commonwealth of Virginia, north of the City of Roanoke and the

Roanoke Urbanized Area. Craig County is part of the Roanoke

Metropolitan Statistical Area. New Castle is the

county seat and the only town in the county.

The 2010 census has the population at 5175   and the 2018 population

estimate is   at 5064.  There are  330 square miles comprising the county

with  an average of 16 residents per square mile.

The county is a province of ridge and valley in geological terms.  Creeks

run down the valleys and provide water source for livestock

operations.  The continental divide zigzags through the county

separating the drainages of the New River  (ending up in the Mississippi

river) and the Atlantic ocean.

Nearly two thirds of the county is the George Washington  & Jefferson

National Forest.  The Appalachian Trail crosses through the county west

to east, and turns north. The county also contains the  Niday State

Forest.  Rural in nature, it has no stop lights and is crisscrossed by

Route 42 running northeast to southwest, and Route 311 running

approximately east-west.

According to the 2017 agricultural census, the county has 125% more

cattle than people residing in the county.  Other significant agricultural

crops are  forage,    Christmas trees, and sheep and lambs.  There is one

producer of bison in the county

Road maps with 911 street names and visitor information are available

from the public library (Rt 311 and Main St).  They were produced by the

Craig County Tourism Commission with assistance from Roanoke Valley

Alleghany Regional Commission and Target Marketing, LLC.  Please note

that Google does not “know” all of the county road names,  and only

lists county route numbers for a large part of the county.