First Landing State Park (Virginia Beach)

The Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean collides in a mixture of brackish water off the coast of Virginia Beach where a quaint state park resides. On one side of the fairly busy Shore drive sits the beach with camping sites and boat ramps, but on the other side lies a world hidden from most beach-goers purview -- a world of mosquitoes, spanish moss, fungus, towering cypress trees, and swamps. It's a darker world to the sunny shores of Southeastern Virginia, but it's biodiversity amazes all who go.

First Landing State park used to be called Seashore State Park, but was changed to commemorate the Virginia company that first landed on Cape Henry before moving eastward to Jamestown on the James River. Also, according to the website, the park is the northern most area where you will see temperate and subtropical species of plants living harmoniously and it shows.

My sister, H, and I decided to take the pitbulls, Taco and Belle, along on the trail. We arrived around at 9:30 in the morning. The weather was cool with clear skies, a nice change from the potentially miserable humid summer time. We paid our $5 parking fee at the gate and found a nice parking spot in front of the visitor center. Technologically advanced for a state park, there was a computerized kiosk in front where the trail map of either the North or South end could be printed for free.

Before we had arrived, I had already decided no to do the Bald Cypress and Osmanthus trails since they go into the swamp area and it was still warm enough to have a ton of bugs. Besides, I wanted to do a longer trail instead of the one mile run. So, we went straight to the Cape Charles trail, a multi-use trail that runs a little over six miles to 64th Street at the Ocean Front. 

Along the trail, cypress and other hardwood trees towered over our heads, growing out of the still, black waters of the swamps. Spanish Moss decorated their delicate limbs and rustled dryly in the slight breeze. The smell of salt water and moist, rotting things mingled in the air, giving a perfume experienced only by some.

After about a mile on the Cape Charles, we turned right onto the white blazed Kingfisher Trail. We started to climb up, reaching a point above sea-level. The trees were closer together on the less-used trail. A huge variety of mushrooms littered the trail edge, some looking ghostly in the shaded undergrowth. As we slowly moved deeper into the woods, the mosquitoes came out to haunt us for the rest of the trip. H decided to put her sweatshirt back on, even though she was starting to get hot, in order to keep her bare arms from getting bitten. We should have thought this through more and sprayed ourselves in heavy-duty bug spray.

What ARE these?

We arrived at a junction, a little over half a mile,where the Long Creek Trail, Osprey Trail, and White Hill Lake Trial. We decided to go along the Osprey Trail, crossing a boardwalk and headed down to the dunes near the broad bay, a hidden gem. We skidded down to lower elevation, sand sneaking into our shoes, until we were able to walk along the coasts. On our left hand side, the tall grass of the saltwater marsh swayed in the slight breeze while on our right, the broad bay waters gently lapped at the shoreline. Thankfully, the tide was down or flooding would have been a major problem.

Panorama of the saltwater marsh and broad bay in background

We walked along the osprey trail for a mile and a half, watching the dogs try to chase tree frogs, hares, and squirrels. We also saw an egret hunting in the saltwater marshes. The mosquitoes were still there, but we weren't nearly as covered. We walked slowly along to shore, climbing up tall dunes covered with the local hardwoods. We finally got to the end where the Long Creek Trail picked up to loop back around Kingfisher and the parking lot. At end, there was a sign that stated the Osprey Trail was closed (oops!)

Egret!

The Long Creek trial was the longest part of our journey at almost 3 miles. There were parts that the swamp came close to flooding the trail, muddying our shoes and sucking at the feet of the dogs. The mosquitoes came in swarms, attacking us through our clothes and any other juicy parts of our flesh. The dogs were covered as well.

One of the slippery sandy hills we skid down

Climbing up out of the swamp lands on Long Creek didn't save us from the mosquitoes, but it did give us wonderful views of the surrounding areas. The Cypress and hardwoods came close to the edges of the trails so we walked under and through Spanish moss veils. The dogs were too exhausted to even try to catch frogs.

Long Creek trail

Spanish moss anyone?

We made it back to the White Hill Lake trail where we stopped to give the dogs something to drink at a bench. There was just enough breeze to keep back most of the bloodsuckers. H was becoming exhausted and her willingness to laugh diminished, but she continued to have fun. Afterwards, we walked back across the boardwalk and up to the junction of all the trails.

Broad Bay shoreline

We returned back along the Kingfisher trail which was now much harder and less enticing than before. The half mile dragged as well trudged along, swatting at biting insects. My urge to take pictures had diminished as well.

Another climb up!

Along the Cape Charles trail, heading back to my car, H and I decided that maybe we did too much. We weren't even wanting to take a picture together as we rushed back to my car, opened up the windows, and drove off, forcing the mosquitoes off of us and back out to where they belong.

Last swamp area before the car

It was around 7.3 miles of hiking through mud, sand, and soft dirt which was much harder to do than any of the trails I have done in Northern Virginia and Maryland, but we enjoyed ourselves. Sister bonding time couldn't have been any better.