The Cascades. Hand-in-Hand Park. The Smart Road. Musica Viva. The Cellar. Municipal Golf Course.

These were the winners of our Best of the NRV survey in the categories: best hike, best place to take the kids, biggest waste of taxpayer money, best cultural fix, best place to hear live music and best place to sled.

These were also the categories that six of our regular New River Journal writers — Steve Kark, Bridget B. Winston, Michael Miller, Susan Stevens Huckle, Pris Sears and Amy Splitt — wanted to chime in on when we asked them if they had any alternative opinions or perspectives to offer on the poll results.

Here’s what they had to say.

Hike

At my age, any hike that begins in a valley and goes uphill from there qualifies as cruel and unusual punishment.

The best hikes are mountaintop hikes. In the New River Valley that means the War Spur Trail or the short hike from the road to White Rocks, both of which are near Mountain Lake.

The best of the lot, though, is the hike from the lodge itself up to Bald Knob. Last year, my wife and I went there on a guided bird-watching hike that was part of the annual Mountain Lake Migratory Bird Festival, which, by the way, takes place again this year from May 19-21.

The birds were nice, but the real payoff was the view from the top, which was nothing short of spectacular. It was even better when topped off with a cool drink at the lodge afterwards.

Take the kids

Once the snow started to melt, it didn’t take us long to seek out Hand-in-Hand Park. As newcomers to the area, we were advised by almost everyone we met that it is the best park around.

Located behind the Blacksburg Recreation Center and Aquatic Center, the park offers something for kids of all ages. There are three separate play areas — a smaller playground with baby swings nearby, a medium-sized playground with “big kid” swings for the older kids, and an enormous wooden playground with places to slide, swing, hang, jump and bounce. In between the three play areas is an old red caboose that kids can climb on and pretend to steer.

For our 1-year-old, the baby swings and small-scale slide offer a thrill a minute. He also gets excited by the vast expanse of the hills and playing fields that surround the park. As a new expert in the art of walking, all this space is like toddler nirvana.

We’ve made several excursions to the park this spring. It promises to be a place that will offer new adventures for every age.

Waste of taxpayer money

The astute citizens of the New River Valley demonstrated their righteous fiscal outrage by voting the Smart Road as the biggest waste of taxpayer money.

In selecting the Smart Road for this award, voters surprised pundits who had predicted they might select the Kent Square Extremely Expensive and Always-Empty Parking Garage and Ice Cream Emporium, or perhaps the highly successful Virginia Tech Stadium Expansion Delay Program.

OK, so technically the stadium expansion was not paid for by tax dollars, but I know we are paying for it somehow.

Cultural fix

My vote: The Lyric Theatre.

I saw Disney flicks there as a kid, when it was one of very few movie houses in the area. Years later, I cried through “Romeo and Juliet” and guffawed at “Blazing Saddles.” Meanwhile, the place grew ever shabbier.

Now this venerable old theater lives on in restored glory — better than I ever knew it.

Renewed interior beauty notwithstanding, the improvements I appreciate most are in the entertainment offered. There’s nothing like seeing a theatrical or musical presentation in a more intimate setting. My family was wowed by a recent Richie Havens concert there. The sound quality was superb. Richie even visited with fans in the lobby after the show.

The Lyric’s calendar of events is brilliantly varied, timely and smart. The staff cares about what you want to see, and surveys its patrons to find out. And its facilities are often made available to the community. Among other things, it hosts theater summer camps for children and serves as a recital facility for local music instructors.

And certainly the Lyric is known for showing quality motion pictures and documentaries, best watched with a significant other from its cozy balcony. What multiplex can boast that?

Live music

You’ll notice there isn’t any overlap between “best place to dance” and “best place to hear live music.” That’s probably because the winners for live music don’t really have room for dancing. (Although I’ve seen an enthusiastic group of six or so move the tables in The Cellar and dance.)

The Cellar and Oddfellas (which placed third in the live music category) are both primarily restaurants, with great food and drink, that also have music.

The Lyric (which placed second) is, of course, a movie theater that can hold hundreds, but still no room for dancing.

The Cellar tends toward blues, jazz, rockabilly, folk and bluegrass.

Oddfellas showcases folk, bluegrass, country and occasionally more traditional classical artists.

The Lyric tends toward blues, Celtic and progressive country.

All these spots are nonsmoking, which probably adds greatly to their appeal. Blacksburg does have other venues that offer a spectrum of local bands, from punk to funk and all points in between.

If you are looking for more music (and space to dance to live bands), try Shooters in Salem, and Champs, Attitudes, Cinco de Mayo and the infrequent shows at Cabo Fish Taco and Oasis World Market in Blacksburg.

You can check getrockedout.com for leads on local shows. Or when in Blacksburg, stop in the Crossroads music store for information, or take a stroll down College Avenue and peruse the ever-present blizzard of flyers.

Sled

What would winter be worth if we couldn’t get some fun out of all that frozen water and the risk of grievous bodily injury? And what is sledding if not the easiest, cheapest and most fun route to frostbite and a fractured tailbone?

OK, maybe that last point’s arguable, but we are presenting a family newspaper here. In any case, there is more than one sledding spot to choose from in the New River Valley.

Mere blocks from the heart of downtown Blacksburg, Wong Park offers a pleasantly secluded atmosphere with enough space for plenty of sledders and snowboarders to play. The slopes are moderately steep — no black diamond trails here, but you won’t have any trouble building up momentum before the hill tapers off. So, you don’t risk meeting a terrible end as a tree ornament.