Take a walk in the park
County parks help the traffic weary get back to nature and quiet
By Susan Nienow CONTRIBUTING WRITER
This is Part 1 of a two-part series on the county's parks. Part 2 will appear in the Oct. 17 issue.

Paddlers from the James River Sojourners converged on Robious Landing Park earlier this year. Situated on the James, the park provides a perfect launching point for canoeing and kayaking.

Now that the summer heat is almost gone, it's a great time to escape the noise and traffic and discover the treasures waiting in the county's parks. They have evolved into much more than the original bread and butter of public parks: sports fields and picnic shelters. The county has added cultural heritage and conservation as well as public access to the James and Appomattox rivers to its facilities.

With over 3,000 acres of park land and four million visitors a year, Chesterfield's parks are right in the middle of the mix when compared to national standards, explained Mike Golden, director of the Chesterfield Parks and Recreation Department. But, the addition of special purpose parks - historic sites and conservation areas - complement the facilities.

This sunken ship provides habitat for fish and birds at the Dutch Gap Conservation Area.

Below is a look at just a few of the county parks waiting to be discovered:

Where to go to get away:
R. Garland Dodd Park at Point of Rocks
201 Enon Church Rd.
Robious Landing Park
3800 James River Rd.
Dutch Gap Conservation Area
411 Coxendale Rd.

R. Garland Dodd Park at Point of Rocks

Those who look beyond the sports facilities and picnic tables at R. Garland Dodd Park at Point of Rocks will get an unexpected treat. A 1,600-foot floating boardwalk on a tidal marsh on the Appomattox River gives visitors a relaxing place to watch birds or see wildflowers. "That's the biggest surprise - the passive part of the park," said Johnna Casey, district park supervisor.

For Casey, the best time of year at this park is fall. "The trees are gorgeous," she proclaimed. "We are still fixing Isabel damage. We lost a ton of trees, and there has been erosion on the trails." Repairs will be completed after some work at Rockwood Park is finished.

The 1.7 miles of trails, many next to the river, invite walkers and wildlife lovers to take a close look at this 186-acre park.

Robious Landing Park

At just 60 acres, Robious Landing Park is a gem. Some of it was bought from a developer as part of the nearby school sites, and 50 acres were added later, providing this park with quite a bit of riverfront. Robious Landing is on "a narrower, quieter stretch of river," said Bruce Dove, assistant director of parks and recreation.

Because it is near James River High School, there is a boathouse and a rowing club for the high school students. The park also has three and a half miles of trails that are wider than most and have a stone dust surface rather than dirt. "I like the trails, personally," said Dove. There is nothing across the river so the view is natural.

The park also offers a canoe/kayak launch and has enough trees so that the surrounding homes are not visible.

Dutch Gap Conservation Area

At 810 acres, Dutch Gap is the king-sized park in the county, though three-quarters of it is underwater. Originally bottomland forest and swamp, the Richmond Sand and Gravel Company started mining this area in the 1920s. Other companies continued mining until the 1960s, creating a large pit. A channel was cut to the old river channel and the lagoon was created. The area has been left undisturbed since then.

A number of islands in an area called the graveyard are actually hulks of sunken river barges. They evolved into islands as silt built up and plants such as river birch, swamp rose, sycamore and alder colonized. Fish and birds use the islands for refuge. The lagoons have two low tides and two high tides every day with the range between high and low at 3.6 feet. The water is fresh, not brackish or salty.

About 300 acres of wetlands are in Dutch Gap and are home to many plants and wildlife. Fall is a good time to see the magnificent display of wild rice and the explosion of wild flowers.

Soon the bird migration will begin, usually triggered by a cold spell, explained Chesterfield Parks and Recreation naturalist Mark Battista. The area is known up and down the East Coast as a great place for bird-watching. The great egrets are out now, and bald eagles fish there, though they nest along the James River. During the winter, many waterfowl feed in the wetlands.

The hiking and biking season is beginning as the days become cooler.

Programs

Many nature programs are offered in Dutch Gap from hikes to wildlife and plant identification to birding and paddling. For information on Dutch Gap programs, call Mark Battista at 706-9690.

The parks and recreation department's fall program guide is now available for pick up at county libraries and online at www.chesterfield.gov. Click on "County Departments" and then "Parks and Recreation." For more information on county parks, click on the link for "Park Sites" on the parks and recreation homepage or call 748-1623.