The ride is not quite as pleasant as it used to be. The bikeway is a 5.3 mile circuit, a "flat, sandy doubletrack" running through dense forest, passing by both Civil War and Revolutionary War sites. This is also where you get on the bikeway. This is where you can rent a campsite, buy food and other necessities, rent bicycles ($3 an hour - and you must have a helmet, $1 an hour), paddle boats or get to the archery range. Just as you turn right into the parking lot you'll find the Camping Office. It's possible to bike along Jefferson Avenue to the next, Campsite Entrance, (just a mile further along) but I elected to drive. Since I'm a biker, not a walker, I returned to my truck and headed for my next destination. If you're really interested in seeing Confederate earthworks, take a walk along this path. The White Oak Nature Trail begins on the other side. (Artist Sidney King painted hundreds of murals for the National Park Service, including many at Jamestown, and is known for his historical accuracy.) There's a bridge across the calm water, and as I walked up a heron flew up and perched on the wooden railing. The same mural from the Discovery Center is on display here, with more explanatory text. You'll pass a sign illuminating "Prince John" Magruder's activities on the Warwick River that led to the battle, then cross the street to the quiet waters of the Lee Hall Reservoir. When you come out of the center, turn right. There's a park ranger on staff (the Center is open Wednesday through Sunday) who can answer any questions you may have. By pressing a button you can hear an actor voicing the words of Union Corporal George French, 3rd Vermont Infantry (which took the brunt of the Union casualties), and Confederate Private Eli Pinson Landers, 16th Georgia Volunteers. King (based on a contemporary drawing), and a few artifacts. There are photos of the site as it appeared back in 1862, a mural painted in 1967 by Sidney E. It's a small building - with exhibits on the flora and fauna of the park, and unfortunately, an equally small exhibit on the events of the Battle of Dam No. Before going across the street to the actual battle site, I recommend going into the Center. Lock your bike to the bike rack in front of the building. Turn in here, for it marks the driveway to the Discovery Center. On your right, you'll see a 10-pound Parrott rifle sticking out of the foliage. (Explained more fully in the attached external websites), as well as at the site itself. There weren't a lot of casualties (although accounts vary as to how many) but it was all of a piece of the delay of Union General McClellan's march on Richmond during the Peninsula Campaign. I left my truck at the Visitor Center (it was early in the morning and a weekday - when the park is least busy) and cycled the rest of the way up Constitution Way (approx 1 ½ mi) to the site of the battle, which took place on April 16, 1862. Stay off all unpaved trails - those are nature trails reserved for hikers. (Signs posted periodically advise drivers to beware of pedestrians they don't bother to mention bicyclists.) You can also bike on any paved trails. 1.īicyclists can bike on all the paved roads in the park - you'll be passed upon occasion by cars. Here you can pick up individual brochures on the trees amp shrubs, wildflowers, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, you'll find, and a brochure giving full information on the Battle of Dam No. There's also an information desk manned by very pleasant people who can answer any of your questions. This is a must stop for anyone new to Hampton Roads, for there are dozens of brochures in rack after rack - from the food and entertainment offered to all of the historical sites in the area - plantations, museums, battlefields, etc. I turned into the first entrance and parked at the Newport News Visitor Center on the left. Going across Fort Eustis Boulevard, the first entrance on your right, Constitution Way,�leads to the park proper, the second, a mile further on, is the entrance to the campgrounds, boating area, archery range, and bike way. I took the Fort Eustis exit, 250B, off I-64 and turned left onto Jefferson Avenue. I would have preferred to have bicycled�to the park as well, but the streets of Hampton Roads are not designed to accommodate bicyclists or pedestrians safely, and aren't designed that well for drivers either, for that matter! I wanted to see these historical sites, so I put my mountain bike in my truck and drove there. Round trip historical road to Yorktown battlefield Newport News Park, with hiking and biking trails, an arboretum, playgrounds and picnic shelters, a campground, a 30-acre aeromodel flying field, archery range, and a disc golf course, is the gateway to Civil War and Revolutionary War sites. Biking Around Hampton Roads, VA: Cannons, Cannons Everywhere
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |