New River Gorge National Park and Preserve
The New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is a United States national park and preserve designed to protect and maintain the New River Gorge in southern We…
National Park System · Virginia
National parks in Virginia
72 destinations across the National Park System call Virginia home — from headline parks to lesser-known historic sites worth a detour.
The parks listed below cover everything the National Park Service maintains within Virginia. They include flagship parks (the names most travelers come for), plus the smaller monuments, historic sites, battlefields, and recreation areas that round out a serious itinerary. If you're putting together a state-focused trip, working from this list — rather than a generic top-five — will surface places you'd otherwise miss.
Each link below opens a full visitor guide: hikes, camping, nearby attractions, and visitor tips for that specific destination. Read them in any order — they're written to be standalone.
Shenandoah National Park
Shenandoah National Park (often ) is a national park of the United States that encompasses part of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. The park is long and n…
Booker T. Washington National Monument
The Booker T. Washington National Monument is a National Monument near the community of Hardy, Virginia, and is located entirely in rural Franklin County, Virgi…
George Washington Birthplace National Monument
The George Washington Birthplace National Monument is a national monument in Westmoreland County, Virginia, at the confluence of Popes Creek and the Potomac Riv…
George Washington Masonic National Memorial
The George Washington Masonic National Memorial is a Masonic building and memorial located in Alexandria, Virginia, outside Washington, D.C. It is dedicated to…
Red Hill Patrick Henry National Memorial
Red Hill Patrick Henry National Memorial, also known as Patrick Henry's Red Hill, in Charlotte County, Virginia, near the Town of Brookneal, is the final home a…
Fort Monroe
Fort Monroe is a former military installation in Hampton, Virginia, at Old Point Comfort, the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula, United States. It is curre…
Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
The Appomattox Court House National Historical Park is the preserved 19th-century village named Appomattox Court House in Appomattox County, Virginia. The villa…
Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park
Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park was established in Topeka, Kansas, on October 26, 1992, by the United States Congress to commemorate the la…
Colonial National Historical Park
Colonial National Historical Park is a large national historical park located in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia operated by the National Park Service. It …
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park
The Cumberland Gap National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park located at the border between Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, centere…
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, originally Harpers Ferry National Monument, is located at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers in and aro…
Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park
Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park became the 388th unit of the United States National Park Service when it was authorized on December 19, 200…
Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site
The Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Landmark and a National Historic Site located at 110½ E. Leigh Street on "Quali…
President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site
The President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site is located in Hope, Arkansas. Built in 1917 by H. S. Garrett, in this house the …
Manassas National Battlefield Park
Manassas National Battlefield Park is a unit of the National Park Service located in Prince William County, Virginia, United States, north of Manassas. The park…
Richmond National Battlefield Park
The Richmond National Battlefield Park commemorates 13 American Civil War sites around Richmond, Virginia, which served as the capital of the Confederate States…
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park is a unit of the National Park Service in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and elsewhere in Spotsylvania County,…
Theodore Roosevelt Island
Theodore Roosevelt Island is an 88.5-acre (358,000 m2) island and national memorial located in the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. During the Civil War, it wa…
Petersburg National Battlefield
Petersburg National Battlefield is a National Park Service unit preserving sites related to the American Civil War Siege of Petersburg (1864–65). The battlefie…
Gauley River National Recreation Area
The Gauley River National Recreation Area, located near Summersville, West Virginia, protects a 25-mile (40 km) portion of the Gauley River and a 5.5-mile (8.9 …
Assateague Island National Seashore
Assateague Island National Seashore is a unit of the National Park Service system of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Located on the East Coast along the At…
Ryerson Station State Park
Ryerson Station State Park is a 1,164-acre (471 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Richhill Township, Greene County, Pennsylvania in the United States. It was previ…
List of Virginia state parks
This is a list of state parks and reserves in the Virginia state park system. Virginia opened its state park system on June 15, 1936 as a six-park system. The …
Breaks Interstate Park
Breaks Interstate Park, also known as "the Breaks," is a bi-state state park located partly in southeastern Kentucky and southwestern Virginia in the Jefferson …
Belle Isle State Park (Virginia)
Belle Isle State Park is located in Lancaster County, Virginia, on the Rappahannock River. It sits between Deep Creek and Morattico Creek and is currently unde…
Bear Creek Lake State Park
Bear Creek Lake State Park is a 326-acre (132 ha) state park located in Cumberland, Virginia, United States. It is a recreational and camping facility that sur…
Caledon State Park
Caledon State Park is a 2,587-acre (10.47 km2) state park located in King George, Virginia. As of 2010, the yearly visitation was 49,328. The property was init…
Claytor Lake State Park
Claytor Lake State Park is a 472-acre (191 ha) state park in Pulaski County, Virginia, in the United States. The park is located on Claytor Lake, a 4,500-acre (…
First Landing State Park
First Landing State Park (formerly Seashore State Park) offers recreational opportunities at Cape Henry in the independent city of Virginia Beach, Virginia. As…
False Cape State Park
False Cape State Park is a 4,321-acre (17.49 km2) state park located on the Currituck Banks Peninsula, but within the city of Virginia Beach, from Back Bay Nati…
Chippokes State Park
Chippokes State Park (previously known as Chippokes Plantation State Park) is a Virginia state park on the south side of the James River on the Captain John Smi…
Grayson Highlands State Park
Grayson Highlands State Park is a state park located in Grayson County, Virginia, United States. It is adjacent to the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area and…
Fairy Stone State Park
Fairy Stone State Park, located in Patrick County, Virginia, is the largest of the original Virginia six state parks that opened on June 15, 1936, and is named …
Douthat State Park
Douthat State Park is a state park located in the Allegheny Mountains in Virginia. It is in Bath County and Alleghany County. The park is 4,545 acres (18 km2) t…
High Bridge Trail State Park
High Bridge Trail State Park is a rail trail in Southside Virginia converted from a rail line last belonging to Norfolk Southern. The first section of the High …
Culpeper Battlefields State Park
Culpeper Battlefields State Park is a state park in Culpeper County, Virginia. The park was authorized for creation by Governor Glenn Youngkin on June 21, 2022 …
Clinch River State Park
Clinch River State Park is a river-based state park in Tazewell, Russell, Wise, and Scott counties in Southwest Virginia. It was dedicated by Gov. Ralph Northam…
Hayfields State Park
Hayfields State Park is a state park in Highland County, Virginia, near McDowell. The 1,034-acre (4.18 km2) park was dedicated by Governor Glenn Youngkin on Oct…
Falling Spring Falls State Park
Falling Spring Falls State Park is a state park in Alleghany County, Virginia, five miles north of the town of Covington in the Alleghany Highlands region. The …
Hungry Mother State Park
Hungry Mother State Park is a state park in southwestern Virginia. The park's main feature is a 108-acre lake with a sandy beach. Opened in June 1936, Hungry Mo…
Natural Bridge (Virginia)
Natural Bridge is a geological formation in Rockbridge County, Virginia, United States, comprising a 215-foot-high (66 m) natural arch with a span of 90 feet (2…
Leesylvania State Park
Leesylvania State Park is located in the southeastern part of Prince William County, Virginia. The land was donated in 1978 by businessman Daniel K. Ludwig, and…
Mason Neck State Park
Mason Neck State Park is located in Fairfax County, Virginia. The park is on a peninsula formed by Pohick Bay on the north, Belmont Bay on the south and the Po…
Kiptopeke State Park
Kiptopeke State Park is a state park located in the southern end of the Eastern Shore of Virginia and the Delmarva Peninsula in Northampton County, near Cape Ch…
Lake Anna State Park
Lake Anna State Park is a state park located in Spotsylvania County in Virginia. Initially, the site of the Goodwin Gold Mine – gold was first discovered at the…
Holliday Lake State Park
Holliday Lake State Park is a state park located within the confines of Appomattox-Buckingham State Forest in Virginia. The land was cleared as farmland in the…
James River State Park
James River State Park is a state park located along the James River in Buckingham County, Virginia. Opened June 20, 1999, it preserves part of the route of th…
New River Trail State Park
New River Trail State Park is a 57.7-mile (92.9 km) rail trail and 1,217-acre (1.902 sq mi) state park located entirely in southwest Virginia, extending from th…
Natural Tunnel State Park
Natural Tunnel State Park is a Virginia state park, centered on the Natural Tunnel, a massive naturally formed cave that is so large it is used as a railroad tu…
Mayo River State Park (Virginia)
Mayo River State Park is a state park of Virginia located in Henry County, along the North and South Forks of the Mayo River. The entrance to the park is locat…
Machicomoco State Park
Machicomoco State Park is a 645-acre (261 ha) state park located in Gloucester County, Virginia. The park is home to the historic Timberneck House, built in 17…
Sky Meadows State Park
Sky Meadows State Park is a 1,862-acre (754 ha) park in the Virginia state park system. In addition to preserved woodland, meadow and swamp, sections of the par…
Shenandoah River Raymond R. "Andy" Guest Jr. State Park
Shenandoah River Raymond R. "Andy" Guest Jr. State Park, known generally as Shenandoah River State Park, is a state park near the town of Bentonville, Virginia,…
Occoneechee State Park
Occoneechee State Park is a 2,698-acre (10.92 km2) state park in Mecklenburg County near Clarksville, Virginia, located along Buggs Island Lake. Its name refle…
Pocahontas State Park
Pocahontas State Park is a state park located in Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States, not far from the state capital of Richmond. The park was laid out…
Shot Tower Historical State Park
Shot Tower Historical State Park is a state park located near the town of Austinville, Virginia. Its centerpiece is the Jackson Ferry Shot Tower, located along…
Staunton River State Park
Staunton River State Park is a state park in Virginia. One of the Commonwealth's original state parks, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps and opening in …
Staunton River Battlefield State Park
Staunton River Battlefield State Park is a state park located in Virginia. The park straddles the Staunton River in Halifax and Charlotte counties. The Roano…
Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park
The Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park is a Virginia museum, run as a state park, dedicated to preserving the history of the southwestern part of t…
Smith Mountain Lake State Park
Smith Mountain Lake State Park is a 1,148-acre (4.65 km2) state park along the shores of Smith Mountain Lake in Bedford County, Virginia near Huddleston. Primar…
Sailor's Creek Battlefield Historical State Park
Sailor's Creek Battlefield Historical State Park is a 379-acre (153 ha) state park near Rice, Virginia, located mostly in Amelia County with a small portion in …
Powhatan State Park
Powhatan State Park is a state park located along the James River in Virginia. It is in Powhatan County. The park is 1,565 acres (6 km2) total with two miles (3…
Seven Bends State Park
Seven Bends State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Virginia, located approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) southeast of the town of Woodstock, near the histor…
York River State Park
York River State Park is located near the unincorporated town of Croaker in James City County, Virginia on the south bank of the York River about 10 miles downs…
Twin Lakes State Park (Virginia)
Twin Lakes State Park (formerly known as Goodwin Lake Park and Prince Edward State Park for Negroes), is a state park in Virginia, United States. It is located …
Westmoreland State Park
Westmoreland State Park lies within Westmoreland County, Virginia. The park extends about one and a half miles along the Potomac River and covers 1,321 acres. T…
Wilderness Road State Park
Wilderness Road State Park is a state park located in southwestern Virginia, near Cumberland Gap and Ewing, VA. It consists of about 310 acres (1.3 km2) around…
Dismal Swamp State Park
Dismal Swamp State Park is a North Carolina state park in Camden County, North Carolina, in the United States. The park was created as a state natural area in …
Sweet Run State Park
Sweet Run State Park is a state park in northern Loudoun County, Virginia, near Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. The park was dedicated on October 6, 2023 by Gove…
Kerr Lake State Recreation Area
Kerr Lake State Recreation Area is a North Carolina state park in Vance and Warren counties, North Carolina, in the United States. Located north of Henderson ne…
Mayo River State Park (North Carolina)
Mayo River State Park is a North Carolina state park in Rockingham County, North Carolina in the United States. It covers 2,778-acre (11.24 km2) along the Mayo …