Appomattox Riverside Park

By 1elcoley

Published: August 7, 2008

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See the beauty of the canal, sites and the river from Appomattox Riverside Park

Appomattox Riverside Park includes two miles of scenic walkways along the towpath of the Upper Appomattox canal.  There are many historic spots along the river, ending with the Abutment Dam.  It is popular with paddlers, fisherman and rock-hoppers.

It is a Petersburg park, despite its location along the river in Dinwiddie County.

Its known as Old Ferndale Park to many old-timers, as it was originally the site of an amusement park in the early 1900s.

Paddlers can travel up the canal to the Abutment Dam, a scenic area in its own right, with remnants of busier times when the river’s old canals and mills were in full swing. 

The Abutment Dam is the official beginning of the state-designated Appomattox scenic river corridor.  The dam was originally completed in 1807 to divert water into the 5-mile Upper Appomattox Canal for batteau traffic to Petersburg. There was at one time canals in place to allow for travel by boat along the Appomattox from Petersburg to Farmville.

This area is where the Appomattox state scenic river designation officially begins, and the area is peaceful and isolated.

From there, you can enter the white water for a two-mile ride back down to the parking area, forming a circuit. This is one of the few historic watered canals in Virginia open for boating to the public.

[Credit: Information on the history of the Appomattox from “The Falls of the Appomattox Atlas“]