I have explored only a few of our state parks—I LOVE False Cape (more to come later in the season). As a result, I’ve missed out on a wealth of unique Virginia treasures. So I resolve—as it’s that time of year—to explore Virginia’s massive, award-winning state park system and natural area preserves, and also visit some of the wild natural county AND city parks or natural management areas. No longer will I persist in my quest as an exclusively primitive-wilderness-only backpacking snob. Let’s have some fun!

My first introduction to Pocahontas State Park was some 20 years back, when our cross-alley neighbors used to brag nearly every weekend, “We’re headed down to Pocahontas to shoot our guns.” Scary folks, given the fact they were suspect when sober, which they seldom were. Those two tortured souls have long departed this earth, but for a while they colored my perception of the park.

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of visiting the Civilian Conservation Corps Museum, which sits smack in the middle of Pocahontas. What a legacy! Originally established in the mid 1930s, Pocahontas State Park was a project of Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps—the Depression-era work relief program designed to put unemployed men to work creating natural resource areas. It was then known as the Swift Creek Recreational Demonstration Area, and the only such facility for the Richmond-Petersburg-Hopewell region. Men lived in nearby camps (an exhibit on living conditions is featured in the museum) and built the dam and spillway for Beaver Lake, cabins and most of the current park’s infrastructure. In 1946, the national government gave the land and structures to Virginia, and in 1989 the park underwent considerable improvement. It now features campgrounds for individuals and families, campgrounds for large groups, cabins, dining halls, picnic facilities, a large swimming pool with water slides and an aquatic center, fishing, canoeing, kayaking and rowboat rentals, hiking, mountain bike trails, hunting areas, 9 miles of bridle trails with horse rental facilities nearby, the Heritage Center (a hall for meetings, events and gatherings), the Heritage Amphitheater (a concert stage for performances scheduled all summer long), Pocahontas Premieres, and the CCC Museum, which honors the CCC efforts all over Virginia. Activities are held year round with workshops, interpretive programs, festivals and events. This place is a goldmine.

Before we left home, I printed a trail map off the Park’s website. This map was neither very detailed nor precise. When I returned home, I found another on the Web, much more accurate, in fact, excellent.

Sitting on the drainage of Swift Creek, Pocahontas State Park’s amenities take full advantage of its wetlands, lakes, rivulets, hillocks and woodlands, particularly the trail network. We first crossed the Swift Creek Lake to hike the newly created Forest Exploration Trail, but we ultimately decided to head back up toward the CCC Museum and hike the Beaver Lake Trail, part of a large network of hiking-biking trails that radiate from the museum area. This 2.5-mile trail took us around the lake along marshlands, up and over hills, down to creek intakes, out to overlooks, onto bird-viewing platforms, passing wonderful seats carved from storm-felled trees. Just the ticket for a wintry day, and we weren’t alone. At least seven families crossed our path, some carrying newborns or walking dogs, with tree-climbing kids. Trails include forest roads, which cut in and through the park, as well as those around the perimeter. For mountain bikers, there’s a new system of 10 miles of single-track riding—one for beginners, one intermediate and one likened to a rollercoaster that is deemed advanced.

Pocahontas State Park, just one part of the state park system of Virginia—66,786 acres of it.

1/14/10 5:14 PM