INTRODUCTION

What a pleasure it has been to pen this guide to Virginia’s historic hikes. Using Virginia’s rich past as a backdrop, I have selected forty hikes that are scattered throughout the Old Dominion, taking you to the most fascinating places where Virginia’s past can be experienced by trail. These historic hiking destinations include Belle Isle, a menagerie of history on the James River in Richmond; Manassas Battlefield on the outskirts of Washington, DC; Shenandoah National Park, where vestiges of forgotten pioneer lifeways can be explored; and Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, where Daniel Boone himself led settlers into what was then the uncharted West.

And there is more, like hiking to see a nineteenth-century lighthouse on Assateague Island astride the Atlantic Ocean, strolling the Virginia Creeper Trail—an old railroad grade-turned-path deep in a mountain fastness—or walking through Chippokes Plantation, a 400-year-old working farm in the Tidewater. The book includes trails of varied lengths and difficulties, as well as different types of destinations, from sites visited by George Washington himself, such as the Great Falls of Virginia, to places like the Shot Tower, where musket balls were made on the frontier, to Raven Cliff Furnace in the Jefferson National Forest, where iron was processed from raw ore.

Virginia is one of the most history-laden states in the Union. Being a writer of outdoor guidebooks and a student of American history, I tackled this project with great enthusiasm. When preparing this book I realized that readers, even those going on historic hikes, want to know the basics: how to get to the trailhead, how far the hike is, information about hike difficulty, when to go, what they are going to see along the way, and where they are within reason at any given moment of the hike. This book covers those essentials, yet differentiates itself from other hiking guides by emphasizing trailside history.

Let’s face it: In our rush-rush electronic world, we are hurriedly looking for an authority, “someone who knows” to help us pursue our goal of hiking through Virginia’s history. This is my approach: Imagine you and I relaxing around a campfire, and you ask about the best historic hikes in Virginia. I tell you as one friend would to another, in story fashion, rather than reading, like a dry, dull textbook. Virginia’s history is too captivating for that! This guide conveys concise, organized information to help busy people make the most of their limited and precious outdoor recreation time, and provides an opportunity to experience the mosaic of history that can be had in the Old Dominion.

While contemplating the historical hikes in this guide, Richmond—Virginia’s capital city—comes to mind first. Not only does Belle Isle, with its physical representations of the past, stand out, but the nearby downtown Canal Walk provides insight into early Richmond, waterpower, and how times have changed. The Floodwall/Slave Trail took me to a darker era, when men traded for other men, human chattel brought to riverside docks. Just north of town, Cold Harbor Battlefield’s Bloody Run ran red with men who gave their lives fighting to end slavery.

Richmond pulses with the Old Dominion’s past, yet many other historic hiking locales are scattered throughout the state. Occoneechee Plantation State Park recalls the Old South and lifeways of the Virginia planter. More modest homestead reflections can be found hiking to the Johnson Farm, a preserved homestead high atop the Blue Ridge, among the Peaks of Otter, where generations of highlanders found homes amid mountain majesty. Of course, aboriginal Virginians had already discovered that life in the Blue Ridge was nothing if not beautiful. The Hensley Settlement, straddling the Virginia-Kentucky border, contains an entire community of homes and other farm buildings, even a school, providing a snapshot of rural life in the early 1900s.

Stuarts Knob, at Fairy Stone State Park, unveils layers of early industry, from iron-ore seekers digging with a pick and shovel in the 1700s to shaft mining around which a company town quickly rose and fell with the iron market. The Virginia Highlands—the Old Dominion’s rooftop—also holds layers of time, from the long hunters who hounded bear in primeval spruce-fir forests, to the day of the loggers, to the homesteaders who tried to live in the harsh uplands, to the cattle grazers that followed, to today’s Appalachian Trail hikers that clamber through mile-high meadows and forests.

Around Washington, DC, you can visit the Great Falls of Virginia and see how a canal around the magnificent falls was commissioned by none other than George Washington himself. Hike to Leesylvania Plantation, where George Washington visited the plantation of Henry Lee II, grandfather of Robert E. Lee. Other area hikes include Manassas Battlefield and the Assateague Coast Guard Station and Lighthouse, where you can tramp along the Atlantic Ocean to visit an oceanfront preserved building and an operational lighthouse.

How fortunate we are to have preserved lands laced with trails that contain Virginia’s past. At Shenandoah National Park we can visit and even overnight in an authentic pioneer cabin, or see Camp Hoover, the first presidential retreat. However, it was not only national parks that held history within their bounds but also state parks such as Occoneechee Plantation and city parks like Newport News Park, where you can walk miles of earthworks from the Battle of Dam No. 1, as the Rebels fought the relentless and ultimately successful crushing of the Confederacy.

The foresight of creating historical parks and building trails within them benefits us greatly, lending a tangible link to what has transpired in the past. These destinations also harbor the natural beauty for which Virginia is known, from the mountains to the sea. May the hikes presented in this book help you explore, understand, and appreciate the natural and human history of the Old Dominion. Enjoy.

Weather

Virginia experiences all four seasons in their entirety, and given the state’s elevations—from over 5,700 feet to sea level—the state could be experiencing them all at the same time. Summer can be warm, with occasional downright hot spells in the eastern lowlands. The mountains will be cooler. Morning hikers can avoid heat and the common afternoon thunderstorms. A mobile device equipped with Internet access allows hikers to monitor storms as they arise. Hikers are drawn outdoors in increasing numbers when the first northerly fronts of fall sweep cool, clear air across the Old Dominion. Crisp mornings, great for vigorous treks, give way to warm afternoons, more conducive to family strolls. Fall is drier than summer. Winter will bring frigid subfreezing days, chilling rains, and snows, especially in the mountains. There are also fewer hours of daylight. However, a brisk hiking pace and smart time management will keep you warm and walking while the sun is still above the horizon. Each cold month has a few days of mild weather. Make the most of them. Spring will be more variable. A warm day can be followed by a cold one. Extensive spring rains bring regrowth but also keep hikers indoors. But any avid hiker will find more good hiking days than they will have time to hike in spring and every other season. A good way to plan your hiking is to check monthly averages of high and low temperatures and average rainfall for each month in Lynchburg, roughly in the center of the state. Elevation and specific location will lead to different exact temperatures. Below is a table showing each month’s averages for Lynchburg. This will give you an estimate of what to expect each month.

Month	Average High (ºF)	Average Low (ºF)	Precipitation (inches)
January	45	25	3.1
February	49	27	3.0
March	58	34	3.6
April	68	43	3.3
May	75	51	3.7
June	83	60	3.6
July	87	64	4.4
August	85	63	3.3
September	78	56	3.9
October	69	44	3.1
November	59	35	3.4
December	48	27	3.2

Flora and Fauna

The natural landscape of Virginia, inextricably intertwined with its human history, offers everything from a maze of hills and hollows in the far west to the mile-high mountains of the Blue Ridge to rolling midlands of the Piedmont, where big rivers carve bigger valleys, to the gentle Tidewater and onward to the Eastern Shore, abutting the mighty Atlantic Ocean. A wide variety of wildlife calls these dissimilar landscapes home.

Deer will be the land animal you most likely will see hiking Virginia’s historic trails. They can be found in every Virginia county. Deer in some of the parks are remarkably tame and may linger on or close to the trail as you approach. A quiet hiker may also witness bears, turkeys, raccoons, or even a coyote. Bears can be found throughout most of Virginia, save for the easternmost Tidewater and the Eastern Shore. They occur in greatest numbers in the western mountains and eastern swamps. Do not be surprised if you observe beavers, muskrats, or a playful otter along streams and lakes. If you feel uncomfortable when encountering any critter, keep your distance and they will generally keep theirs.

Overhead, many raptors will be plying the skies for food, including hawks, falcons, and owls. Depending on where you are, other birds you may spot range from kingfishers to woodpeckers. Look for waterfowl in lakes and tidal waters. Songbirds are abundant throughout the state.

Virginia’s flora offers just as much variety, especially with such a range of elevation and transitioning aquatic environments, from mountain streams to saltwater seas. Along the trails you will find evergreen forests, hardwoods coloring autumn’s landscapes, even spartan beach environments. Wildflowers will be found in spring, summer, and fall along watercourses and in drier site-specific situations.

Wilderness / Land Use Restrictions / Regulations

Virginia’s historical hikes are accomplished primarily in city, state, and federal parks, plus national forests and wildlife refuges. Each operates with its own system of rules, and we are responsible for knowing them. Since these hikes do travel to historical destinations, there is always a layer of Virginia’s past overlain upon each park. For example, though Newport News Park, a city park, does have multiple forms of outdoor recreation, from camping to golf, the preserved battle site—on the National Register of Historic Places—is managed with an emphasis on preservation. Same goes for places like Fairy Stone State Park, where traditional park activities such as swimming, fishing, and bicycling are undertaken, yet the historic trails circling Stuarts Knob at Fairy Stone are also an intregal part of the park experience. National parks often offer a mix of preservation and recreation to visitors. At the Johnson Farm on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Peaks of Otter, historical, recreational, and nature trails are all interconnected with facilities including a visitor center, campground, and lodge. At Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, emphasis is on history first. So, in the end, it depends on the managing body and the mission of the park in terms of how the preserved past is treated.

Also, no matter where you go to hike through Virginia’s past, consider adding other recreational opportunities while you are there, whether you strap on a backpack and overnight in the back of beyond or take a guided tour, go on a bike ride, or spend the night in a cozy cabin. The important thing is to get out there and connect with history on your own terms.