Biking Around Hampton Roads, VA: Cannons, Cannons Everywhere
Civil War
Site of Battle of Dam No. 1
Civil War Earthworks
Revolutionary War
Site of George Washington’s headquarters
Round trip historical road to Yorktown battlefield
I wanted to see these historical sites, so I put my mountain bike in my truck and drove there. I would have preferred to have bicycledÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½to 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 took the Fort Eustis exit, 250B, off I-64 and turned left onto Jefferson Avenue. Going across Fort Eustis Boulevard, the first entrance on your right, Constitution Way,�¯�¿�½leads to the park proper, the second, a mile further on, is the entrance to the campgrounds, boating area, archery range, and bike way.
I turned into the first entrance and parked at the Newport News Visitor Center on the left. 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. There’s also an information desk manned by very pleasant people who can answer any of your questions. Here you can pick up individual brochures on the trees & shrubs, wildflowers, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, you’ll find, and a brochure giving full information on the Battle of Dam No. 1.
Bicyclists can bike on all the paved roads in the park – you’ll be passed upon occasion by cars. (Signs posted periodically advise drivers to beware of pedestrians; they don’t bother to mention bicyclists.) You can also bike on any paved trails. Stay off all unpaved trails – those are nature trails reserved for hikers.
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 Ã?½ mi) to the site of the battle, which took place on April 16, 1862.
Battle of Dam No. 1
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. (Explained more fully in the attached external websites), as well as at the site itself.
On your right, you’ll see a 10-pound Parrott rifle sticking out of the foliage. Turn in here, for it marks the driveway to the Discovery Center. Lock your bike to the bike rack in front of the building. Before going across the street to the actual battle site, I recommend going into the Center.
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. 1. There are photos of the site as it appeared back in 1862, a mural painted in 1967 by Sidney E. King (based on a contemporary drawing), and a few artifacts. 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.
There’s a park ranger on staff (the Center is open Wednesday through Sunday) who can answer any questions you may have.
When you come out of the center, turn right. 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. The same mural from the Discovery Center is on display here, with more explanatory text. (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 White Oak Nature Trail begins on the other side. No bikes are allowed. If you’re really interested in seeing Confederate earthworks, take a walk along this path.
Since I’m a biker, not a walker, I returned to my truck and headed for my next destination. It’s possible to bike along Jefferson Avenue to the next, Campsite Entrance, (just a mile further along) but I elected to drive. Just as you turn right into the parking lot you’ll find the Camping Office. 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. This is also where you get on the bikeway.
Bikeway
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. The ride is not quite as pleasant as it used to be. The hurricane that roared past in 2003 felled quite a few trees, and the cleanup is still going on. As you start out, the first half- mile consists of over-sized gravel…rocks, really, which makes for a very bumpy ride. There are also patches of gravel for most of the first half of the trail. The last half-mile is also fresh gravel, but better packed and of smaller size. Unfortunately the birdsong is replaced here by the whine of cars zooming along Jefferson Avenue which runs past this section of the park. And all along the trail there’s the occasional horse droppings.
Civil War Earthworks
If you want to see the Civil War earthworks, start from the beginning of the bikeway. (If you aren’t interested in earthworks, and would rather bypass them for a quicker view of George Washington’s headquarters and the much more enjoyable ride on the historical trail that leads to Yorktown Battlefield and back, start at the Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½end’ of the bikeway. To see about that, scroll down to Site of George Washington’s Headquarters.)
To start at the beginning of the Bikeway, just turn right into the park, and then left toward the bikeway, following the signs. If you’ve got an odometer, start measuring from this point – that’s what the mile markers on the bikeway do. At .61, you’ll come to the entrance of the bikeway, marked by a large sign. If you want to see Civil War earthworks, though, go straight, and bike around the loop of the campground (about a quarter mile total). You’ll see a sign identifying the earthworks, which is a good thing because they’re indistinguishable to the untutored eye (i.e., mine) from a normal mound of dirt.
Finish the loop and start onto the bike way. Reset your odometer to 0 here. The first Ã?½ mile is, as I said, studded with rocky gravel which makes for a very bumpy ride. At approx. the 1.38 mark, you’ll see another sign identifying Civil War earthworks. There’s a short spur you can take. I did, but I couldn’t tell the difference between the earthworks and the trees felled during the 2003 hurricane.
At the 2 mile mark a sign on your right directs you to the spur leading to George Washington’s Headquarters. You can bypass this and continue on the bikeway, if you like, which is a much more pleasant ride from here on. The trail brings you right back to the Campsite building, only on the other side from where you started. Stop and read the sign that tells of “Prince John Magruder,”who confounded General McClellan’s troops for a month that would prove very costly at the beginning of the 1862 Peninsula Campaign.
Site of George Washington’s Headquarters
To get to the site of George Washington’s Headquarters and on to Yorktown, it’s a much more pleasant ride to begin from the back end of the bikeway. Instead of going right, into the park, turn left, as if you were going out. Just before you get to Jefferson Avenue, you’ll see the signs on your right. They don’t mention that it’s the bike way…but it is.
Once again you’ll start out on gravel, but the size of rock used is much smaller and makes for a smoother ride. After the first half mile, it’s all hard packed dirt. At the 3 mile mark, on your left, you’ll come to the spur that leads to the Headquarters. (The sign faces the other way – don’t miss it). Take that spur. You’ll emerge onto a paved road which forms a loop. In front of you is a large mural (painted by the ubiquitous Sidney King in 1957. Note the African American worker at the far right.) and explanatory text describing George Washington’s Headquarters, where he planned the Siege of Yorktown.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½
There’s nothing to see except that sign, as Washington’s headquarters was a tent, and the house that was there, is there no longer. (Indeed, none of the plantation houses that once dotted the landscape remain. Only their locations are known and marked for posterity.)Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½
�¯�¿�½So use your imagination.�¯�¿�½
Nothing here says so, but you can take this paved road all the way to the Yorktown Battlefield, approx. 5 miles away, and back, passing dozens of historical markers on the way to and from. Because of its quietness you might think that it was constructed for the benefit of cyclists, but that’s not the case. It is the Allied Encampment Tour, one of two auto tours set up by the park service. Cars do use it, but very infrequently.
It’s a lovely ride. It’s not precisely Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½flat’, but while there are a few slight grades, there is only one long grade that may cause the beginning rider to puff every so slightly – leading up to a bridge over I-64, at about theÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½6 mile mark. As you bike you’ll be serenaded by bird song, and the occasional bluebird will flit across the path. You’ll also see plenty of butterflies. There’ll be an occasional bicyclist, and the even more occasional car.
The Road to Yorktown
You’re riding through history. The French regiments were quartered on various sides of the road on which you ride. You’ll see the site of the French Artillery Park (and on your way back, the American Artillery Park) where cannon were drawn back from the siege lines to be repaired. As a marker points out, the scenery through which you’re riding doesn’t really look as it did a little over 200 years ago – the ground was under cultivation then, and now it’s all forest!Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½ You’ll be able to get an idea of the distances, though. And at every marker you learn a little bit more, both about the battle and, perhaps more importantly, about the people involved.
At the 1.35 mark, you have the choice of continuing straight, to the French Encampment Loop, or of bypassing it by turning right toward Yorktown. This loop is 3 and a half miles long. For now, take the road to the French encampment. The historical markers begin at 2.18, identifying the spot where Baron De Viomeril established his headquarters. There are many more to be seen. Keep on going to the 4.82 mark, which finishes the loop, and head toward Yorktown.
At the 6.06 mile mark, on your right you’ll see an unpaved path, that is for walkers and bicyclists. It leads to Surrender Road. Ignore this for now.
At the 6.38 mark, you come to an intersection with Goosley Road. Across the road, as a side trip, you can ride about a quarter mile to see the Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½Untouched Redoubt.’ Cornwallis evacuated his men from this fortified position, called “The Neck,” on the night of September 30, 1781, opening the door for Washington’s men.
For now, since you’re just concerned with completing the round trip, turn right. Just a few feet down the road is a Civil War Trails marker, calling Yorktown the “Frowning Fortress of York.”
Goosley Road is a narrow, two lane, built up road, and has a little more traffic than you’ve been exposed to so far, but the cars have a 45 mph speed limit. Soon it will intersect with Cook Road.Ã?¯Ã?¿Ã?½
If you want a break from biking, follow the signs to your left. You’ll pass the Yorktown Civil War cemetery, and then left and then right to the Yorktown Victory Center. There’s a bike rack in front of the building. (There’s also a trolley stop, where you can hop on to go to Williamsburg. It leaves every hour on the half-hour until 3.30, with a final trip at 5.15). After paying an entrance fee of $5.00, you can view a movie, and see exhibits and artifacts in the museum. You can also pick up more brochures, including the one that describes the two auto routes and sites to be seen.
For now, to complete your round trip bike trip, turn right onto Cook Road. This is another narrow, two-laneÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½road, with cars having a 55 mph limit, but you won’t be on it long. You’ll bike past the Grand French Battery and then reach Surrender Road, a quarter mile ahead. Turn right here. This is part of the first auto tour, called the Battlefield Tour. A half mile further on you’ll pass the entrance to the bike trail/walking path (that goes .53 through the woods to the point you passed on the other side). Just go right past it.
Turn right again at the sign for Surrender Field. When you come to the loop at the end, you will find the entrance to the Allied Encampment Tour (which will take you back to where you started, to the site of General Washington’s Headquarters).
Along this forest-flanked road you’ll find markers for Baron Von Steuben’s headquarters, Henry Knox’s headquarters, the American Artillery Park (with cannon) and much more. You’ll ride across a bridge over Beaver Dam, and a quarter mile further on completes the loop. Turn left to return to Washington’s Headquarters, and the spur back to the Newport News Park bikeway.
Round trip mileage from back entrance of bikeway, with no side trips:
Including French encampment loop: approx 16 miles
Excluding French encampment loop: approx 12.40 miles
To start on this wonderful ride, you need to go to Newport News Park. Its physical address is:
13564 Jefferson Avenue, I-64 Exit 250B
Hours: Park is open sunrise to sunset daily, year-round
Phone: (757) 886-7912, 1-800-203-8322
