Place: Pocahontas State Park, Chesterfield, VA
Ridden: January 2015
Click on video to play
Just 20 miles from downtown Richmond Pocahontas State Park offers boating, fishing, picnicking, camping, cabins, hiking, mountain biking, equestrian trails, and environmental programs. The park was part of the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) program (for more on CCC camps see the Tall Pines blog here http://nankmancycling.blogspot.com/2014_09_01_archive.html). The park has more than 80 miles of trails throughout 7,925 acres open to hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding. About 52 miles of those trails are multi-use, the remainder being designated only for certain activities.
To add in some extra time and to see a bit more of the park, we also did a loop of the multi-use trails. What we rode was primarily gravel roads/fire road type of riding. We went by the CCC museum and site of the original CCC camp, the dam, and the park office. These trails are a good way to see the park.
All in all a fun place to ride with various trail options depending on what type of riding one wants to do. A note for visitors- one must pay to use the park. Payment is made at the park office, and then you get a paper to put in your vehicle. We didn't know this and thus it added a bit of extra driving around the park when we already had time constraints to get a ride in before it got dark.
- words by Jess
- video by Joël