Chippokes State Park Fall Events
Chippokes State Park Fall Events
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…
Chippokes State Park Events — October 2025
🌾 Corn Husk Dolls
Join a ranger to make your own corn husk doll and learn about their unique history! The corn husk doll has origins in Indigenous culture.
- Oct. 24, 2025. 12:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
- Oct. 25, 2025. 12:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
- Oct. 30, 2025. 12:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
📍 Quayle Classroom
🏛️ Jones-Stewart Mansion Tours
This historical building tour highlights the architecture, designs, furnishings, ornate décor, and stories within the mansion.
- Oct. 24, 2025. 12:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
- Oct. 25, 2025. 12:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
- Oct. 26, 2025. 12:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
- Oct. 31, 2025. 12:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
📍Jones-Stewart Mansion
🐷 Piggin’ Out
Make your own pig and meet our ambassador animal: Tazewell the potbellied pig! Learn about domesticated hogs, their role as livestock, interact with a live pig, and craft your very own pig in this fun craft program.
- Oct. 26, 2025. 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
📍Quayle Classroom
🌲Forests & Fields Hike
How do forests change over time? How does nature recover from human impacts? Join a ranger on this guided hike along Chipoax Trace Trail and learn about the ecology and history of Chippokes State Park. Along the trail, learn about the natural process of forest succession, the gradual changes in plant communities over time, and explore how human activities, from early settlement to modern times, have shaped and influenced these lands and ecosystems.
- Oct. 25, 2025. 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
📍Chippoax Trace Trailhead
🦴 Fossils & Prehistoric Adventures
- Messages from Fossils: Oct. 31, 2025. 10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. — Quayle Classroom (Girl Scouts Love State Parks) Learn about prehistoric history and fossils found on Chippokes beaches. Did you know that 11-3 million years ago Chippokes State Park, the James River, and most of the Tidewater area of Virginia was all under water and at the bottom of the Claremont Manor Sea? Join an interpretive ranger on an adventure through the Fossil Beds of Chippokes to see what we can find.
📍Quayle Classroom - Excursion: Fossils of the James: Oct. 31, 2025. 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.— Farm and Forestry Museum (Girl Scouts Love State Parks) Explore ancient seas and fossil beds with an interpretive ranger. Did you know that 11-3 million years ago Chippokes State Park, the James River, and most of the Tidewater area of Virginia was all under water and at the bottom of the Claremont Manor Sea? Join an interpretive ranger on an adventure through the Fossil Beds of Chippokes to see what we can find.
📍College Run Trail Beach Access
$7 per car park entry fee. For more information visit: https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/chippokes
Chippokes State Park
695 Chippokes Park Rd., Surry, VA 23883
Phone: 757-294-3728 Email Address: Chippokes@dcr.virginia.gov
Check out our article on the best place to find sharks teeth near Williamsburg!
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