• We visited on a Friday morning around 9AM in late December 2023 (after Christmas).
• Although there were staff inside the main gate, they did not stop us to ask for payment. We do have a VA State Park annual pass so we weren’t too concerned.
• We decided to check out the park first with fewer people and come back to the main office/store as we were leaving.
• We drove all the way to the back where the interpretive center was. It was a bit of a drive and although on the map it looked like going left (clockwise) was closer the park signage said to go right, which we did. It was a nice drive and a beautiful morning. There was still some fog/mist being burned away by the rising sun.
• There were 2 other cars in the parking lot when we arrived. One was in front of the bathrooms and the other closer to the structures/exhibits. We did eventually find the second person on the trail and he was jogging the trails. It was really nice path actually for jogging. It was like crushed aggregate rock/gravel for most of it.
• We explored the interpretive area which was nice we had it to ourselves. Based on the rocks it said the park opened in 2020 but when speaking with staff in the office later it opened like a year or so later because of the pandemic. Apparently, the name of this park changed a couple times during its development.
• The timeline feature was really cool but some of the bricks were difficult to read. Then it leads up to the larger covered area with info panels. Very well done. Also look at the stone map of tribes in the area. Super cool feature. We continued down the trail and passed by the Timberneck House which is apparently being restored by a grant from the National Park Service. That will be cool when completed. Also just outside is a nice tree (oak?) with lanterns hanging form it. Bet it would be an amazing sight in the evenings/night. Not sure if they are real candles or electric or solar powered. If you continue the trail it leads down to a picturesque view of the water. Definitely work the short hike down.
• We hiked back to parking lot and noticed that there was a geocache nearby in the woods. Stupid us we walked through the woods from the parking lot ot look for it. Not realizing that if we went down the trails behind the bathrooms it would curve around and would only be a couple dozen feet off the trail versus a few hundred feet from the parking lot. It’s a well maintained cache.
• When we got to the office/store at the front of the park we noticed a bike station right outside. We didn’t have bikes on this trip but it would’ve been a nice bike ride for sure. Very flat but there was a decided sidewalk that went around the loop which you could use separate from the road. Although if there were a lot of people probably best to stick to the road. The roads were nice without much debris.
• The store was a decent size and they had a ton of merch specific to the park. My wife and I actually really liked their circular red logo. We grab some pins, hiking medallions and a patch.
• This was VA park number 16 for us on our VA State Park Trail Quest.
• We would definitely visit again if we were in the area.