HIKING VIRGINIA

Barrier islands serve as an ecological first line of defense for our shores. Storms batter them, waves wear them down, wind strips them clean. Tucked out of harm’s way behind the islands lie sheltered bays and marshes teeming with grasses, shellfish, birds, and small animals. False Cape State Park and Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge showcase just one of Virginia’s many barrier island and lagoon ecosystems, albeit a critical one. The preserves stand within striking distance of Hampton Roads’ 2 million residents and all the incumbent pressures (pollution, development, overcrowding). Sprawl stops at the park boundaries, and hikers and bird-watchers are assured a quiet afternoon with space to walk and think, or watch and listen.

THE RUNDOWN

Start: Little Island Park for overnight. Back Bay NWR for day hikes (no overnight parking).

Distance: 14.7-mile lollipop

Hiking time: About 7 hours

Difficulty: Moderate due to length

Trail surface: All aspects of seashore ecology are present, from the beach to dunes to maritime pine and oak forests. Between the barrier islands and mainland lie salt marshes and shallow bays replete with waterfowl.

Land status: National wildlife refuge and state park

Nearest town: Virginia Beach, VA

Other trail users: Cyclists, anglers, hunters (in season), and bird watchers

Accessibility: Back Bay NWR has an ADA-compliant visitor center, restrooms, and some boardwalks to wildlife-viewing stations and the beach. Due to its remote and primitive nature, there are no ADA facilities at False Cape State Park and the trails are all sand. In spring and summer, there is a tram to the park, accessible with advance notice.

Canine compatibility: Leashed dogs are permitted in False Cape State Park, but there’s no access allowed through the Back Bay NWR, so they can only arrive by boat. Pets are not permitted in Back Bay NWR at any time.

Trail contacts: False Cape State Park, Virginia Beach, (757) 426-7128 (camping reservations: 800-933-PARK), www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/false-cape. Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Virginia Beach, (757) 301-7329, www.fws.gov/refuge/back_bay

Schedule: Back Bay NWR open daily dawn to dusk; East and West Dike trails are closed Nov through Mar for wintering waterfowl. One of these trails is open Apr through Oct. False Cape State Park and Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge are closed from the first Sat through the second Sat in Oct each year for the Game Management Program (Hunt).

Fees/permits: Parking fee charged at Little Island Park Memorial Day to Labor Day. Entrance fee charged at Back Bay NWR Apr through Oct. Camping fee charge at False Cape State Park.

Facilities/features: False Cape State Park has primitive camping, pit toilets, flush toilets at Environmental Center, drinking water at sites 1-6. Back Bay NWR has a visitor center, kayak/canoe launch, restrooms, and day use parking only.

NatGeo TOPO! maps: North Bay, Knott Island

NatGeo Trails Illustrated map: Delmarva Peninsula

Other maps: A Trail Guide/Map is available at the park and downloadable on its website.

From Virginia Beach, take the Indian River Road exit 286B off I-64. Proceed east on Indian River Road for 13.4 miles, then turn left onto New Bridge Road. In 1.3 miles, turn right onto Sandbridge Road. After 3.1 miles, turn right onto Sandpiper Road. Drive south on Sandpiper for 3.8 miles to Little Island Park on the left, where overnight parking is permitted. GPS: N36 41.588′ / W75 55.473′. DeLorme: Virginia Atlas & Gazetteer: Page 35, C7.

Barrier islands are a habitat of extremes. The same beach where sunbathers flock for relaxation also harbors some of the earth’s harshest living conditions. Waves beat upon it unceasingly, but those same waves bring ashore food that nourishes microorganisms, shellfish, birds, and small animals. Unfettered wind reduces shrubs and trees to bonsai proportions; wind also spreads beach grass and sea oat seeds, two species that help prevent sand-dune erosion. Then there is sand itself, barren of most nutrients, yet it creates the very reefs and dunes that preserve our coast.

A hiker must adapt to False Cape State Park and Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge (the park and refuge form a 20-mile contiguous stretch of protected coastal habitat between Virginia Beach and the North Carolina border). Forget mountain grandeur. Forget tall hemlocks or yellow poplar trees. Here, wind-lashed holly, oak, and pine eke out a precarious living. Deer, raccoons, opossums, and foxes rustle the shrubby thickets. Migratory birds capture the imagination—shorebirds in the spring, songbirds in spring and fall, and nesting birds in summer; in winter, it’s the ducks and geese. Plant and animal life here have had more time to adapt than humans. Wax myrtle has a coating on its leaves that protects it against the relentless sun and moisture loss from high winds and salt exposure. Salt marsh cordgrass is able to overcome both the presence of saltwater—which would kill less hardy plants—and a severe lack of oxygen in the dense, mushy marsh soil. It solves the problem of saltwater through reverse osmosis, whereby it balances saltwater intrusion with freshwater within its vascular cells. Oxygen, meanwhile, is pulled from the air and transported down the stem to the roots. Look closely at the muddy fringe of a salt marsh at low tide and look for red stains in the otherwise black mud. This is a botanical version of rust, a by-product of oxygen mixing with iron sulfide.

Every dune, especially on the lagoon or wash side, features plants whose progression reveals their place in the ecology of the island. On the fringe grows sea rocket, a member of the mustard family. Higher on the dune, beach grass, native to northern barrier islands, and sea oats, commonly found on dunes from Virginia southward, coexist. In areas flooded daily by the tide, salt marsh cordgrass grows nearest to water, while salt marsh hay and black needlerush occupy higher areas of marsh. In the afternoon, at low tide on a clear day, the sun will glint off oxidized salt particles clinging to tall stems of these grasses, giving the impression of light bouncing off thousands of tiny mirrors. Beneath the grasses and puddles of brackish water, juvenile blue crabs reach maturity and fish spawn.

Plants that seem withered and dead during dry spells spring to life after rain. False heather jumps to life under moist conditions. Looking something like a small cedar, the heather’s yellow flowers coat the ocean side of dunes. Because it grows low to the ground and spreads, heather helps stabilize the sand.

Down on the beach, sanderlings dart hither-and-thither, first chased by a crashing wave, only to turn and pursue it back into the ocean. This small bird pecks at the spongy sand, digging deep for shellfish. During the summer as many as 30 million clam larvae will occupy 1 square meter of surf. There are snails beneath the sand, too, and small crabs and worms. At nighttime, sandhoppers (small crabs) emerge from holes by the thousands to pick food from shells and seaweed coughed up by waves. Luminescent and quick, the sandhopper has startled more than a few nighttime beach strollers. Rest assured, by the time you’ve figured out it’s an animal and not a ghost, the critter is out of harm’s way. It digs a hole in the sand at a speed of 6 feet in 10 minutes, putting it well out of reach of prying eyes and bird beaks.

Given this diversity and complexity, it’s worth considering how the wilds of False Cape and Back Bay might have developed were it not for the park and refuge. A few miles up the beach, Virginia Beach’s boardwalk teems with humans on hot summer days. Sun-bathers, surfers, and beach strollers crowd miles of white Atlantic beach. The city spends millions to preserve this, fighting nature with “beach replenishment projects,” a process of pumping sand from offshore back onto shore.

The process they’re fighting is the gradual drift of barrier islands (and our eastern coast, generally) to the south and west. Left to its own devices, the white sands of Virginia Beach would, in a couple hundred years, move, shifting south along the coast in the fashion of all barrier islands. Scientists call this littoral drift. Each wave picks up sand and transports it down the shoreline. A calm day or two will see tons of sand displaced. A hurricane or nor’easter will move those same tons in a few hours. The inlet below Ocean City, Maryland, which separates that resort town from Assateague Island, was carved by a single hurricane in 1933.

There was no dramatic event responsible for Back Bay and False Cape. In the 1800s some 300 people lived in the Wash Woods, a section of False Cape State Park. They fished for a living, and a few raised livestock and farmed. (Interestingly, Wash Woods settlers were survivors of a shipwreck off the coast; their first homes and church were built from what they could salvage from the ship.) Like the island itself, they lived at the mercy of the ocean. Over hundreds of years, farmland turned to marsh. Sand replaced fertile soil. Soon, sportsmen outnumbered inhabitants, and hotels and sporting clubs sprang up. Four-legged game was slim pickings. The waterfowl, on the other hand, were plentiful.

It can be taken as a sign of progress, then, that over time Virginia has moved from hunting wildfowl on this small barrier island to protecting them. Like other barrier islands up and down the East Coast, this island hosts neotropical birds migrating to Central and South America. Waterfowl nest here. In September, vireos, yellowthroats, and warblers arrive. By October, yellow-rumped warblers have alighted to spend winter. In all, bird spotters have recorded 288 bird species in the Back Bay refuge. (This is typical of barrier islands lining the East Coast; Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Virginia’s Eastern Shore lists 300 bird species spotted.)

On these slivers of sand, the equivalent of an interstate highway rest stop, birds find the amenities they need: nesting spots, food, and, quite frankly, a spot to rest weary wings. And they seem to be more than willing to share it with hikers.

MILES AND DIRECTIONS

0.0Start at Little Island Park. Walk to the south end of the parking lot. At a picnic pavilion, turn toward the beach and surf.

1.5Hike straight along the beach, past a boardwalk that leads up into the dunes on the right. Note: The boardwalk leads to a Back Bay NWR ranger station and visitor center.

4.7Reach the boundary of False Cape State Park. Continue straight on the beach.

5.0A beach path leads right up into the dunes toward Barbour Hill primitive campsites and the state park’s contact station, a turnoff marked by a small metal post with a yellow tent. From this junction, it is 0.7 mile across the island to the contact station. Note: If you are continuing farther down the beach, Barbour Hill is your last chance to supply drinking water; it is near the contact station and near the two camping areas there.

6.7Turn right onto False Cape Landing Trail. Note: If you’re walking in the surf far below the dune line, keep an eye peeled for a sign reading False Cape Landing Trail. There are primitive campsites in dunes after you turn onto the trail.

7.1Turn right onto Sand Ridge Trail, a wide dirt road. The ocean is now on your right, out of sight over the dunes. Back Bay is on your left. Note: Straight on False Cape Landing Trail, there is a boat landing in 0.3 mile, as well as bay-side campsites.

8.4Sand Ridge Trail arcs right at a junction with South Inlet Trail. Follow the road right. Note: South Inlet Trail leads left for 0.4 mile to a sheltered reach of water with scenic views.

9.0Turn left onto Barbour Hill Beach Trail. There is a ranger station on the right side of the road. Past the ranger station, turn right onto Barbour Hill Interpretive Trail.

9.6Pass an observation deck on the right side of the trail.

9.8Leave False Cape State Park and enter Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Turn left onto the Dike Trail, which is a gravel and dirt road that runs alongside wildlife impoundments, large pools of water that attract waterfowl and migrating birds. This hike follows the western leg of the Dike Trail.

10.1Where the trail forks, bear right onto the Dike Trail. Note: The left-bearing trail is a short spur to the bay.

10.9Hike straight past a road that turns right and leads between two impoundments.

11.4Follow the trail as it jogs left then right and continues its northward route. A road branches right, leading between impoundments. Within 0.2 mile, hike past a third road that branches right.

13.2The Dike Trail merges with its eastern leg. Continue on past a pool on the right side of the trail.

13.4Reach the Back Bay visitor center and ranger station. At the station, turn right onto the Seaside Trail boardwalk.

13.5Descend off the boardwalk and dune and turn left. Head north along the beach.

14.7Arrive back at Little Island Park.

Winter Wildlife Festival, Jan, Back Bay NWR, False Cape State Park, and other locations throughout Virginia Beach, www.vbgov.com/winterwildlife

The Friends of False Cape State Park, beach cleanups throughout the year. Call (757) 426-7128 to sign up.

The Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, Virginia Beach, (757) 385-FISH, www.virginiaaquarium.com. More than 800,000 gallons of aquariums with sharks, sea turtles, and dolphins.

There are twelve backcountry campsites in False Cape State Park holding between four and six people each. The closest is a 6.9-mile walk from Little Island Park, where campers must park. Campsites have pit toilets; there are flush toilets at the kayak shed and Environmental Education Center. Drinking water at sites 1–6; bring containers to carry water to sites 7–12. Open fires are not permitted. Reservations by phone are required at least 1 day in advance: (800) 933-PARK.

Virginia Beach has literally hundreds of restaurants. For a unique locals spot on Back Bay, check out Blue Petes, 1400 N. Muddy Creek Road, Pungo; (757) 426-2278; www.bluepetespungo.com.

False Cape State Park conducts tram, canoe, hiking, birding, and astronomy tours; call (757) 426-7128.

Tidewater Appalachian Trail Club maintains some trails in False Cape, www.tidewateratc.com.

2. FALSE CAPE STATE PARK/BACK BAY WILDLIFE REFUGE