General
From our Parks map, you can review all of the parks in our area, choose one, and download trail collections to your hiking app (Maps.me only). If you select one of the waypoint flags on the map, descriptive information about the associated park will be displayed in a popup window. Alternatively, you can choose a park from the list of waypoints to see its descriptive data. Note that the waypoint list and the park descriptive data are exposed in different ways, depending on the type of device you are using. In a desktop browser, this information is usually shown in a separate, always visible pane in the browser. On a smartphone, you may need to switch to landscape mode to expose the list and hike data.
Shown below are details regarding each descriptive item for the parks. Note that you can get driving times, distances, and directions for a hike by selecting the directional icon at the top of the waypoint description. Use the download links to add park trails to your GPS app and take the walks.
Map Fields
Park - Name of the park
Type – Park System
Locality - City or county
Area - Region of Central Virginia
Park Link - Links to a Park Facts And Downloads page providing more information about each park and giving you the opportunity to download park trails to your smartphone. See the section below for the fields on that page.
Guide Category – Indicates whether any guided hikes are available for the park.
Latitude - GPS coordinate for the park.
Longitude - GPS coordinate for the park.
Park Facts and Download Page Sections
Basic Facts About the Park
Repeats the information described above for the map fields, but adds one field:
Hunting Allowed ? - Indicates whether the park allows hunting as of 2019. It is best to check the most recent hunting schedule for the specific park. If this field is missing, no hunting is known to be allowed in the park. Note that hunting permissions can change from one year to the next in each park. Always check the park Web site and/or contact the park office. See the section Know Hunting Locations and Seasons.
Learn More About the Park
Visit the Park Web Site – Click to visit the park Web site to get more information, such as current fees and amenities. Note any alerts, trail closures, changes in local conditions.
Visit Park Showcase – Visit the park showcase page on our site (if available).
View Park Trail Map – Click to get a trail map for the entire park (where available). Print a copy to take with you.
Guided Hikes - Click this link to see a list of guided hikes for the park (if any). From there, you can learn about each hike and download it to your phone.
Learn More about Hiking and Nature
Park Reviews in Alltrails - Click this link (if available) to view a park summary page on the Alltrails Web site. This page will show you a description of the park, a list of trails within the park, and user reviews, photos, and recordings. You can also open any trail in the trail list to get more information about that specific trail. See the description of Alltrails in the Resources section. Note that the Alltrails app cannot use our guided hikes – it simply provides added information to help you choose a hike. In addition, a user login for Alltrails is required to use most of the functions on these pages other than the basic park description (including the trail information).
Download Trails to Maps.me – Use this link to download a trail collection to your smartphone to use as a guide for exploring the park’s hikes. Remember to compare the trail collection to a current park trail map to make sure the trails are usable.
View Wildlife Observations – This link will show you a list of the wildlife observed in the park, as well as a map showing where each observation occurred. It can be useful when preparing for a visit to the park by familiarizing you with the wildlife you might see. See the page iNaturalist Instructions to learn how to use this feature.
View Bird Checklists – This link will show you a list of the birds that have been seen within the park. It is automatically updated, so it will always be current. It can be useful when preparing for a visit to the park by familiarizing you with the birds you might see. See the page eBird Instructions to learn how to use this feature.