THINGS TO DO IN VIRGINIA - NATIONAL PARKS

Appalachian National Scenic Trail - The Appalachian National Scenic Trail is a 2,167-mile (3,488 km) footpath along the ridge crests and across the major valleys of the Appalachian Mountains from Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in north Georgia. The trail traverses Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia.

Booker T. Washington National Monument - The park is the site of famed educator, orator, and presidential advisor, Booker T. Washington's birth, early life, and emancipation. Washington's ideas about education, race, and labor were shaped on this tobacco plantation. The park is one of the few places where one can see how slavery and the plantation system worked on a smaller scale. It provides a focal point for discussion about one of the most powerful African Americans in history and the evolving context of race in American society.

Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail - The Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail follows the Revolutionary War route of Patriot militia men from Virginia, today's eastern Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia to the battle of Kings Mountain, South Carolina, site of the Kings Mountain National Military Park.

Central

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Appomattox Court House National Historic Park - Walk the old county lanes where Robert E. Lee, Commanding General of the Army of Northern Virginia, surrendered his men to Ulysses Grant, General-in-Chief of all United States forces, on April 9, 1865. Imagine the events that signaled the end of the Southern States' attempt to create a separate nation.

Blue Ridge Parkway - The Blue Ridge Parkway is a 469 mile recreational motor road that protects the cultural and natural features of the Blue Ridge while connecting Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks. Designed as a "scenic drive", the Parkway provides both stunning scenery and close-up looks at the natural and cultural history of the mountains.

Green Springs - Located on 14,000 acres, Green Springs National Historic Landmark District is located on the western piedmont of central Virginia. It is a natural basin caused by erosion of a volcanic intrusion resulting in particularly fertile soil, which has sustained grassland farming for over 270 years.

Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site - The Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site commemorates the life of a progressive and talented African American woman. Despite many adversities, she achieved success in the world of business and finance as the first woman in the United States to found and serve as president of a bank. The site includes her residence of thirty years and a visitor center detailing her life and the Jackson Ward community in which she lived and worked.

Richmond National Battlefield Park - Between 1861 and 1865, Union armies repeatedly set out to capture Richmond, capital of the Confederacy, and end the Civil War. Three of those campaigns came within a few miles of the city. The park commemorates eleven different sites associated with those campaigns, including the battlefields at Gaines' Mill, Malvern Hill, and Cold Harbor. Established in 1936, the park protects 763 acres of historic ground.

Chesapeake Bay

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Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network - First thoughts of the Chesapeake Bay often bring up images of crabs and oysters. But, as the largest estuary in North America, the Chesapeake Bay has touched and influenced much of the American story – early settlement, commerce, the military, transportation, recreation and more. The Bay and its surrounding 64,000 square mile watershed hold a treasure trove of historic areas, natural wonders and recreational opportunities.

George Washington Birthplace National Monument - George Washington Birthplace National Monument has 550 acres of both colonial historic settings and unmatched natural beauty. The site depicts 5 generations of Washingtons in Virginia beginning with John Washington in 1658. The family cemetery is the resting place for George Washington's father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Visitors will enjoy a reconstructed plantation as well as a visit to the birthsite of George Washington.

Tidewater & Hampton Roads

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Cape Henry National Memorial - After four and a half months crossing storm swept seas 144 weary Englishmen made land-fall in April 1607. They anchored their ships in the protected waters of the bay and landed a small party upon the shore. They built a wooden cross and planted it in the sand naming the place Cape Henry. This is the first landing site of those adventurous Englishmen who, some three weeks later, established the first permanent English Colony in North America at Jamestown.

Colonial National Historic Park - Colonial National Historic Park (NHP) administers two of the most historically significant sites in English North America. Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America in 1607, is administer jointly with the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, and Yorktown Battlefield, the final major battle of the American Revolutionary War in 1781.

Jamestown National Historic Site - Jamestown National Historical Site is a part of Historic Jamestowne, site of the First Permanent English Colony in North America. The National Historic Site consists of 22.5 acres on the western end of Jamestown Island, which includes the original site of the 1607 fort and statehouse site of the late 17th century.

Yorktown National Battlefield - Yorktown Battlefield is the site of the final, major battle of the American Revolutionary War and symbolic end of Colonial English America.

Yorktown National Cemetery - Yorktown National Cemetery contains the remains of 2,183 soldiers, ten of which are Confederate. Only 747 of the dead are identified. Many of the dead are from the 1862 Peninsula Campaign and other battles around Richmond, though some died during the period Yorktown served as a Union garrison from 1862-1864.

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Shenandoah National Park - Shenandoah National Park lies astride a beautiful section of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Shenandoah River flows through the valley to the west, with Massanutten Mountain, 40 miles long, standing between the river's north and south forks. The rolling Piedmont country lies to the east of the park. Skyline Drive, a 105-mile road that winds along the crest of the mountains through the length of the park, provides vistas of the spectacular landscape to east and west. The park holds more than 500 miles of trails, including 101 miles of the Appalachian Trail.

Northern

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Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial - The house that Robert E. Lee called home for 30 years and one uniquely associated with the Washington and Custis families is preserved today as a memorial to General Lee, who gained the respect of Americans in both the North and South.

Claude Moore Colonial Farm - Claude Moore Colonial Farm is a living history site that demonstrates the life of a poor farm family living on a small farm in northern Virginia just prior to the American Revolutionary War. Today, agricultural and household activities seen on the Farm represent an earlier era when small farms were dispersed throughout the countryside; and, most Americans engaged in activities of an agricultural nature.

Fredericksburg National Cemetery - In July 1865, three months after the restoration of peace between the states, Congress authorized the establishment of a National Cemetery in Fredericksburg to honor the Federal soldiers who died on the battlefields or from disease in camp. The site chosen was on Marye's Heights, the formidable Confederate position which had proven so impregnable to repeated Federal attacks on December 13, 1862.

Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park - Approximately 110,000 casualties occurred during the four major battles fought in the vicinity of Fredericksburg, Virginia making it the bloodiest ground on the North American continent. In 1927 the U.S. Congress established Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County Memorial National Military Park to commemorate the heroic deeds of the men engaged at the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House.

George Washington Memorial Parkway - The George Washington Memorial Parkway preserves the natural scenery along the Potomac River. It connects the historic sites from Mount Vernon, where Washington lived, past the nation's capital, which he founded, and to the Great Falls of the Potomac where the President demonstrated his skill as an engineer. Developed as a memorial to George Washington, the Parkway may be used on any day to travel to exciting historical, natural, and recreational areas.

Great Falls Park - Great Falls Park, a site that is part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway, is an 800 acre park located along the Potomac River 14 miles upriver from Washington D.C. The park is known for two things, it's scenic beauty at the head of Potomac River fall line and the historic Patowmack Canal.

Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac - The Memorial is located in Lady Bird Johnson Park, a Potomac River island in Washington, D.C. The grove consists of two parts. The first area, commemorative in nature, is a granite monolith surrounded by a serpentine pattern of walks and trails. The second area is a grass meadow and provides a tranquil refuge for reflection and rejuvenation of the spirit. The trails are shaded by a grove of hundreds of white pine and dogwood trees, and framed by azaleas and rhododendron.

Mannassas National Battlefield Park - Manassas National Battlefield park was established in 1940 to preserve the scene of two major Civil War battles. Located a few miles north of the prized railroad junction of Manassas, Virginia, the peaceful Virginia countryside bore witness to clashes between the armies of the North and South in 1861 and 1862.

Petersburg National Battlefield - Petersburg, Virginia, became the setting for the longest siege in American history when General Ulysses S. Grant failed to capture Richmond in the spring of 1864. Grant settled in to subdue the Confederacy by surrounding Petersburg and cutting off General Robert E. Lee's supply lines into Petersburg and Richmond. On April 2, 1865, nine-and-one-half months after the siege began, Lee evacuated Petersburg.

Poplar Grove National Cemetery - With more than 6,000 graves, Poplar Grove National Cemetery reflects the tragedy that befell the United States during the Civil War. Each simple headstone is a poignant reminder of the human cost of war.

Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail - The Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail corridor is used by communities in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia and Pennsylvania to develop and make connections among trails, historic sites and a range of recreational and educational opportunities.

Prince William Forest Park - Prince William Forest Park consists of five cabin camps, numerous roads and lakes, miles of trails, and utility systems. The park preserves a piedmont forest covering a major portion of the Quantico Creek watershed. The park's relatively large size and the fact that it contains one of the few remaining piedmont forest ecosystems in the National Park System make it a significant natural resource.

Theodore Roosevelt Island Park - Theodore Roosevelt was a man with vision. He considered the future before making decisions and his legacies still influence us. Perhaps his greatest legacy was in conservation. This wooded island is a fitting memorial to the outdoorsman, naturalist, and visionary who was our 26th President.

Wolf Trap Farm for the Performing Arts - Wolf Trap is 130 acres of rolling hills and woods, with an abundance of natural resources. Within the boundaries of the park are streams, meadows and heavily wooded areas. It is the only National Park dedicated to the Performing Arts.

Eastern Shore

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Assateague Island National Seashore - Assateague is a windswept barrier island that offers many opportunities for seashore recreation and nature study along its thirty-seven miles. Ocean swimming, camping, bayside canoeing, crabbing, clamming, hunting, surf fishing, and off-road vehicle use are all popular.

Virginia National Parks