BAREFOOT BEACHCOMBING

Camping - Holliday Lake State Park - Appomattox, Virginia - May 2022

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For my first trip of the year, I stayed for a week a Holliday Lake State Park near Appomattox, Virginia. It's about 3.5 hours (180 miles) from Hampton Roads. Located within the Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest, Holliday Lake contains many activities for the outdoor enthusiast. Fishing is popular. Swimming is available the park's beach. The park has several hiking trails, including a 6.7 mile loop around the entire lake. There are two campgrounds in the park. The Laurel Ridge campground has 6 sites and the Redbud campground has 29 site. I stayed in Redbud site number 4. All the campsites have electric and water connections at the site. Redbud #4 is completely shaded and partially paved. In addition to the two campgrounds in the park, there are picnic shelters, playgrounds, snack bar, gift shop and boat ramp.

 

https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/holliday-lake

 

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Holliday Lake State Park and the surrounding state forest were cleared in the 1800s for farmland. In the 1930s, the federal government began buying the farms to return the land to its former productive hardwood forest state. A dam built across Holliday Creek and a lake was created. Traces of family cemeteries can still be found in the area. After Holliday Lake was completed in 1938, the state, through an agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, took over the management of the new day use recreational area. In 1972, with the addition of campsites, the area became a state park.

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I got a new bike just before this trip. It's an e-bike and it folds! I took it on this trip and checked out some biking trails. In downtown Lynchburg, there is a system of trails that were constructed on an old rail bed and run along the James River. I biked on the Riverwalk Trail and the Blackwater Creek Trail. There is a really cool rail tunnel that the trail runs through. It was dripping a whole lot of water at  one of the entrances. On one end of the trail is a cancer awareness garden. The beautiful garden is a special place for all of those whose lives have been affected by cancer. Near where I parked is a cool LOVEworks sign constructed out of items related to the trail.

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Downtown Lynchburg also had some cool sights including a huge mosaic art piece along a parking lot wall depicting the history of Lynchburg.

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I drove about an hour north and checked out another state park called James River State Park. As the name implies, it is located directly on a bend of the James River. It was a beautiful spot to sit and have lunch. The park has really cool "natural" playground with the play elements constructed out of natural elements such as stumps, logs and slate. There's a "bowling" lane and even "drums" and a "xylophone".  James River State Park is one of several Virginia State Parks that is designated as a "International Dark Sky Park". There were some cool exhibits in the visitor center including one depicting the park's efforts toward establishing native plants and pollinators.

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On my way back to Holliday Lake, I stopped by a place called Brightwell's Mill. It is a historic 19th-century mill and includes a reconstructed 1826 wood-frame mill, dam, miller's house, a number of outbuildings, and a small cemetery. The dam and mill both date to 1942, when a flash flood destroyed 19th-century structures. The mill was rebuilt using materials salvaged from the 1826 mill, while the dam was rebuilt in concrete. The mill was used to process the grain of local farmers until 1965. The mill complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2016. You can see if the pictures that they had planned a big celebration for the 100 year anniversary of the mill which was in 2020. Obviously, they could not have an event then. But they do decorate the mill for Christmas and plan to have a big event this year. A very nice gentleman was at the site when I stopped. He was mowing the grass and apologized that the grass was so high. It turns out that his great, great grandfather built the mill. He took me inside the mill and gave me a great tour and told great stories about his family and the mill.

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A few minutes from Holliday Lake is the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, where General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant in 1865 ending the Civil War in Virginia. On April 9, 1865, the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia in the McLean House in the village of Appomattox Court House, Virginia signaled the end of the nation's largest war. The park was established in 1935. It has a number of restored and reconstructed buildings and tells the story of the events that transpired leading up to Lee's surrender.

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Within the park, there is a sign dedicated to the memory of Joel Sweeney who popularized the banjo and played it in his traveling minstrel show. Sweeney lived and is buried nearby.

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I kayaked around the perimeter of Holliday Lake on a lovely, calm morning. The lake is a popular place to fish and there were lots of people out fishing. There also is a 4-H camp on the other side of the lake. On one part of the lake, the park has a designated swimming beach and from Memorial Day to Labor Day, there is a concession stand. i saw lots of turtles and some birds including an osprey that was making quite a racket.

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The Virginia Blue Ridge Railway Trail is a 6.5 mile gravel surface trail that can be used for biking, hiking, and horseback riding. The trail runs on a former railway spur that ran to a quarry in Piney River from 1915 to 1981. I started at the Piney River trailhead along Route 151, which is the northern terminus, where there is parking for cars and horse trailers. The trail follows the Piney River, and after 2 miles, it crosses Route 674 in Roses Mill, where there is parking for cars along with restrooms and a picnic area. The trail continues along the Piney River for another 2.5 miles and then crosses the Tye River just downstream of its confluence with the Piney River. The trail then follows the Tye, passing under US Route 29 and ending at Tye River Depot, where there is an exhibit of a rail car scale. There are numerous places along the trail with benches that overlook the river.

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I drove to a really cool place called Evergreen Lavender Farm. It's a small, working farm that grows lavender and other flowers and makes varies lavender scented products. They also have a bunch of cool places to sit and enjoy the calmness. It had a really cool, funky vibe. They also have a LOVEworks sign there.

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I took a tour on a boat called a batteau across the river from downtown Lynchburg. The batteaus were used as cargo boats to transport goods throughout the Commonwealth via the James River and its tributaries. A batteau is a wooden, wide, flat-bottomed boat, which is pointed at both ends making it a fitting vessel to carry passengers and freight while navigating the shallow and rock laden waters of the Upper James River. The James River Association has a period-accurate replica of a James River Batteau. It is 40 foot long, 8 feet at the beam. Turns out I was the only person on the tour, so I got a private adventure. Rob was an EXCELLENT guide. The batteaus are propelled entirely by poling. Rob told great stories about the batteau and the history of transportation along the James. He also talked about the current environmental conditions of the river as well as programs the association has in place to protect the river for future generations. On the trip, I got a close up view of the Langley Fountain. The fountain is an interesting object. It was proposed by a donor a something to accentuate the Lynchburg skyline. It's a large stream of water pumping straight up into the air. It has been likened by some as akin to a broken fire hydrant.

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The tourism slogan for Virginia is "Virginia is For Lovers". The tourism agency has a program where local governments, agencies, and business create art, typically in the form of a sculpture using L-O-V-E and typically incorporating a theme appropriate to the location. These are called LOVEworks. There were several of them in the area. https://www.virginia.org/love/

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This was a great adventure.