- Civil War Series - The Civil War’s First Battle of Manassas comprised two major engagements: a Union victory at Matthews Hill in the morning, and a Union defeat at Henry Hill in the afternoon. With Gen. Irvin McDowell’s Federal forces crossing Bull Run at Sudley Ford, Confederate Col. Nathan “Shanks” Evans shifted 900 troops …
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- Civil War Series - The Stone Bridge at Virginia’s Manassas National Battlefield Park was the site of the first action of the First Battle of Manassas on July 21, 1861. Destroyed during the war, the bridge has been reconstructed, just off today’s Warrenton Turnpike (Lee Highway), and marks the start of a short circuit …
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- Civil War Series - On July 19, 1861—two days before the Civil War’s First Battle of Manassas—Union General Irwin McDowell dispatched John G. Barnard, his chief engineer, to identify a suitable place for thousands of Federal soldiers, horses, and artillery to cross Bull Run Creek undetected. Barnard found such a crossing at Sudley Ford, …
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- Civil War Series - While the fort itself steals the show, Georgia’s Fort Pulaski National Monument also contains a handful of hiking trails. Among the easiest (and mostly wheelchair-accessible) is the North Pier Trail, a 6/10-mile stem-and-loop which begins and ends at the northwest corner of the park’s main parking area on Cockspur Island. …
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- Civil War Series - On the eve of battle in May 1862, Confederate Col. John Magruder’s “third line” of defenses on the Virginia Peninsula comprised 14 redoubts—small, enclosed defensive fortifications built from earth, sod, and timber. Together they served to temporarily delay the Union Army of the Potomac during the Peninsula Campaign (March-July 1862) …
- Civil War Series - The Twin Forts Loop Trail in Virginia’s Newport News explores the site of the Battle of Dam No. 1, a failed Union attack on a Confederate fortification on April 16, 1862. Part of the three-month Peninsula Campaign, the Union defeat was the second of the month (a similar effort failed …
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- Civil War Series - The Battle of Lee’s Mill on April 5, 1862 was, by all accounts, a minor engagement in the Civil War: it produced only 10 Confederate and 12 Union casualties. In the narrative of Union Maj. Gen. George McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign, however, it was very consequential; a fierce Confederate resistance forced …
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The 0.15-mile Carter’s Pond Trail is poorly advertised and excluded from the official park literature on hiking in Virginia’s Prince William Forest Park. Nonetheless, it does indeed exist, accessed by way of the park’s Scenic Drive. The easy and short path ends at a viewing platform overlooking the namesake pond. The hike From the park …
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The Muschette Trail is one of a pair of very short loop hikes that take off from the Pine Grove Picnic Area in Virginia’s Prince William Forest Park (the other is the wheelchair-accessible Piedmont Forest Trail). There’s not much to it – except an opportunity to stretch your legs and explore the area’s piedmont forest. …
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The Piedmont Forest Trail is the only wheelchair-accessible hike in Virginia’s Prince William Forest Park and, with its numerous curves, looks something like an amoeba or an octopus on maps. Situated steps from the Visitor Center and Pine Grove Picnic Area, it is an easy and convenient walk in the hardwood forest for which the trail …
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Live and Let Hike 