Hike Location: Westmoreland State Park
Geographic Location: northwest of Montross, VA (38.17026, -76.86262)
Length: 3.6 miles
Difficulty: 5/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: May 2018
Overview: A lollipop loop with highland, wetland, and
Potomac River views.
Park Information: http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/westmoreland
Directions to the trailhead: The entrance to
Westmoreland State Park is located on the north side of SR 3 5.3 miles west of
Montross. Enter the park, pay the
entrance fee, and follow signs for the park office. Park in the gravel lot on the left just past
the park office.
The hike: Opened
in 1936, 1321 acre Westmoreland State Park is one of Virginia’s six original
state parks. The other five are Douthat,
Fairy Stone, First Landing, Hungry Mother, and Staunton River. As the links indicate, my
visit to Westmoreland on a nice Monday morning in mid-May completed my series
of hikes at Virginia’s original state parks.
All of these parks offer excellent hiking, and I have enjoyed all of my visits
to them including my visit to Westmoreland.
Westmoreland
State Park sits in a nice mostly wooded location on the south bank of the
Potomac River just above where it empties into the Chesapeake Bay. (Aside: some sources call this area the
Northern Neck.) The park’s many
amenities include a 133-site campground, 26 cabins, a swimming pool, and a boat
ramp and beach on the Potomac River.
For hikers, the park contains 8
trails totaling 7.8 miles that offer some of the best hiking in eastern
Virginia. While you can do some road
walks to form longer loops, the longest and best route using only the trails is
the lollipop loop described here. This
route takes you through the streamside lowlands and the forested highlands
while passing the Potomac River beach and an interesting observation platform.
 |
| Trailhead for Big Meadow Trail |
Start on
the Big Meadow Trail, which begins across the road from the parking lot at a
signed trailhead. A sign for the Fossil
Beach on the Potomac River also stands here, and this trail sees a decent
amount of traffic because it offers the shortest route between the Visitor
Center and the beach. Despite the
trail’s name, the wide dirt/gravel Big Meadow Trail travels mostly through
upland broadleaf forest, which features some nice tulip poplar, maple, and oak
trees. Interpretive signs identify some
of the common trees in the forest.
 |
| Dropping off the high land |
As you
approach the edge of the high land, the trail seems to fork. Both paths lead to the Potomac River beach,
but the official red rectangular metal markers follow the path on the left. Soon you drop off of the high land and
descend to the streamside/riverside elevation.
While the high land and the riverside land are quite flat, the nearly
200 vertical foot difference between the two areas creates steep sections such
as this one.
At 0.6
miles, you reach a major trail intersection.
The Turkey Neck Trail angles right to head across a boardwalk, and we
will head that way momentarily. First
angle left to quickly reach where the Big Meadow Trail ends at the Potomac
River beach. Shark tooth fossils
routinely wash up on the beach, hence the Fossil Beach sign at the trailhead. The river looks more like a bay here, and
water lapping on the sunny, sandy, breezy beach makes a pleasant sound. Cliffs appear both downstream and upstream. Take some time to enjoy this pleasant
location.
 |
| Fossil Beach, looking upstream |
Back at the
trail intersection, head down the boardwalk that is the Turkey Neck Trail and
soon arrive at an elevated wooden observation platform. The Potomac River is barely visible from
here, so the main thing to see from this platform is the narrow but long
wetland created by Meadow Run just before it empties into the river. Unfortunately, the large amount of vegetation
in the wetland hinders any wildlife observation.
 |
| Meadow Run wetland |
Past the
platform, at 0.75 miles you reach the end of the boardwalk and the intersection
that forms the loop portion of the Turkey Neck Trail. This description turns left and uses the
trail going right as a return route, thus hiking the loop clockwise. The trail heads south along the west bank of
the Meadow Run wetland with short but steep ups and downs. Some wooden footbridges get you across small
streams that feed into Meadow Run.
At the top
of a low steep ridge, the yellow-blazed Beaver Dam Trail exits right and offers
an opportunity to short-cut the loop.
Continue straight to stay on the Turkey Neck Trail, which is marked with
blue rectangular metal markers. The
trail curves right and climbs back toward the high land in fits and starts.
 |
| Hiking through the high land |
2 miles into the hike, you reach
the top of the hill, and the terrain becomes very flat again. At 2.2 miles, the Beaver Dam Trail re-enters
from the right. A few hundred feet
later, you reach another intersection where the Turkey Neck Trail is signed as
going both straight and right. The path
going straight is a spur trail that leads to the park’s campground in 0.25
miles, so you want to turn right to continue the Turkey Neck Trail’s main loop.
 |
| Stairs at end of finger ridge |
The trail heads northeast out a
finger ridge as it passes some mountain laurel that was in full bloom on my
hike. At 2.7 miles, you reach the end of
the finger where some wooden stairs ease your steep descent back toward Meadow
Run. At the base of the stairs, a final
ridge is skirted just before you close the loop. Turn left to walk back across the boardwalk,
then turn left again to retrace your steps 0.6 miles along the Big Meadow Trail
to return to your car and complete the hike.
While you are in the area, consider
checking out some of the Northern Neck’s many historical attractions. Stratford
Hall, the birthplace of Robert E. Lee and boyhood home of two signers of the
Declaration of Independence, and Washington’s Birthplace National Monument both
lie within 10 minutes of the park; they merit a stop for history-minded
visitors.
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