Just south of Brookneal lies the Roanoke River (also known as the Staunton River), which flows east to its mouth at Plymouth, North Carolina, and the Atlantic Ocean via the sounds in eastern North Carolina. Through the efforts of the Roanoke Navigation Company, established with the assistance of both states in 1815, passage was made possible to as far west as Salem in Roanoke County. By 1828, boats were traversing of "tolerable good and safe navigation" of the Roanoke River between Brookneal and Salem.