Wahrani Nature Trail

Richmond Times-Dispatch Archives

Published: August 24, 2008

Check our photos
of Wahrani Nature Trail [2007]

Wahrani Nature Trail, State Route 33 in New Kent County. This a 138-acre park is located about four miles east of I-64 and is about 30 miles from Richmond and three miles west of West Point. The park has one hiking/biking trail (approx. 1.5 miles) with several spur trails.

Nature lovers, bird watchers and mountain bikers can explore the Wahrani Nature Trail. The challenging terrain of the park has many steep hills and quick-drops and would mostly suit an experienced rider. The park is mostly pine and hardwood woodlands and has stream running throughout much of the park. There is plenty of shade and very little open green space. The parking lot has space for about 10 vehicles and is visible from Route 33.
[Credit: Times-Dispatch archives]

About 30 minutes from Richmond hides 138 pristine acres of towering hardwoods and pines, cool, sandy rivulets, deer, wild turkey and wildflowers. On a recent 2½-mile stroll through the New Kent County park, the only thing I didn't see any of was humans.

Tree-lovers will find this walk especially rewarding. Signposts identify trees next to the path in many places and offer information on their history and human usage. Houses for songbirds often appear in the middle of the forest, as well.

It's a good thing Wahrani Nature Park is such a good place to lose yourself because confusing trail markers make that a distinct possibility. If you don't mind wandering, however, Wahrani's modest size means you'll never be truly lost. In some ways, this puts you in the best frame of mind to discover.

If you prefer a set route, ignore the painted-on blazes and follow the metal diamonds tacked onto trees. The trail forks soon after starting. Follow it to the right with the red diamonds. You'll soon pass between two small ridges. This is the first surprise: You're in the coastal plain, but Wahrani offers much topography change. At times, you'll look down more than 20 feet to a streambed blanketed in ferns and club moss.

Take the red diamond to the yellow, then the white back to the red. For an extra spur, add an out-and-back on the blue. No matter where you go, you'll be in the shade of the tall loblolly pine, tulip poplar, oak and hickory canopy. Dogwoods cling to hillsides in the understory. Crisscrossing streams offer toads and frogs a cool home.

On the white trail, don't miss (trail left) the moss-covered eroding boulders made entirely of accreted seashells and other ocean-bottom fossils, evidence of a prehistoric sea that once existed here. Like the park itself, they're a reminder that mystery exists where you might not first expect it.

[Credit: Andy Thompson, Times-Dispatch]

HISTORY
In 2001 New Kent County assumed jurisdiction over the park, formerly known as the Chesapeake Nature Trail, because Chesapeake Corporation owned the land, or the Warreneye Nature Trail, in honor of the eighteenth-century Warreneye Church that once stood here. In 2003 New Kent renamed the area Wahrani Nature Park to reflect the word's Native American origins.
[Credit: 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Richmond Guide Book by Nathan Lott]