Chippokes State Park Events for March 2024
Chippokes is one of the oldest continually farmed plantations in the country. A working farm since 1619, the park offers modern recreational activities and a glimpse of life in a bygone era. Visitors tour the historic area with its antebellum mansion and outbuildings, stroll through formal gardens, and view antique equipment at the Chippokes Farm and Forestry Museum. They have a campground and four overnight cabins allow visitors to stay on the historic grounds. The park has a visitor center with a gift shop. It also provides opportunities to bike, hike, ride horseback and picnic.
If you are coming from the Williamsburg side of the James River just hop on the free Jamestown Ferry. The ferry ride is part of the fun! Keep reading for the programming this month…
Nature Trail Detectives
March 9 from 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. – Chippokes State Park Farm and Forestry Museum – Bring the family and celebrate this New Year by adventuring out into the woods and on the Trail with a ranger. All tiny participants will be given helpful hands-on bug finding tools for investigating nature signs. Let’s try to use all of our senses to see, smell, touch, track and observe. VIEW DETAILS
Pasture Pals
March 10 from 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – Come on out to Pasture Pals and get your very own, special serving of quality time with our ambassador farm animals. Have you ever wondered exactly why donkeys have such long ears, how many stomachs does a Billy Goat have, what breed of chickens is considered one of the oldest to America, or why pigs like to roll in the mud? We promise to teach you all about the known history and idiosyncrasies of our ambassador farm animals and a few heritage breeds that call Chippokes home. VIEW DETAILS
Chipoax Trace Trail Trek
March 10 from 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. – Come on out to Chippokes State Park and discover what is left of a forgotten historic roadway on this ranger-led hike. Learn about historic transportation routes, the area’s first inhabitants, speculation and myths of the road, and natural history.
Brick Kitchen: Hearth Cooking Demonstrations
March 16 from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. AND 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
March 17 from 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
What is the oldest way of cooking? Let us travel back in time, to a period where preparing meals and cooking for the entire family was done without the aid of modern luxuries and advancements. Witness just how much hard work, elbow grease, and preparation goes into feeding your loved ones or yourself when it is done by hearth cooking over a wood fire.
Messages from Fossils
March 23 from 12:30 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Are you interested in learning about the most common and rare fossils that can be found along the James River?
Excursion: Fossils of the James
March 23 from 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. – Join an interpreter on an adventure through the Fossil Beds of Chippokes to see what we can find that will tell us what this area of Virginia was like, millions of years ago…
Pasture Pals
March 24 from 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – Come on out to Pasture Pals and get your very own, special serving of quality time with our ambassador farm animals.
Easter Egg Hunt
March 30 from 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. – The Friends of Chippokes, park staff, and volunteers welcome one and all to our annual Easter Egg Hunt.
$7 per car park entry fee. For more information visit: https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/event?id=2021-11-17-15-28-29-407155-i5p
Chippokes State Park
695 Chippokes Park Rd., Surry, VA 23883
Phone: 757-294-3728 Email Address: Chippokes@dcr.virginia.gov
Web Site: www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/chippokes-plantation
Check out our article on the best place to find sharks teeth near Williamsburg!