Pocahontas State Park is located in Chesterfield, Virginia southwest of Richmond. If you’re looking for outdoor family fun, you I highly recommend you add this park to your list.
We’ve been to Pocahontas State Park a few times. You can read specifics about the campground and our favorite campsite in our post from our July 2024 trip. Rather than repeat things we’ve already covered, the focus of this post is on the impressive variety of recreational opportunities available at the park.
Pocahontas State Park
The Virginia state parks we’ve been to are on another level. Pocahontas State Park is a great example of why Virginia state parks are a step above NC state parks.
Park Programs
If you’re going to take a trip to Pocahontas, be sure to investigate their programs, because there is so much to choose from.
Among the materials you receive at check-in is a calendar. It tells you which programs are offered on which days (and at which times). On the back of the page, you’ll find a brief description of each of the programs.
Program names and topics are varied and include everything from Bug Bingo and Friday Night Floats to You Too Can Canoe and Friday Crafternoon. From Birding Basics and Radical Reptiles to Secret Spider Fire and Big Poplar Hike.
I thought I’d be able to find the monthly calendars online, but no such luck. What I did find is their events page. To see their programs, follow the link and click Refine List. Then choose Pocahontas State Park. Set the Begin and End Dates based on the dates of your trip. Be sure the All Events box is checked. Click Search, and you should have a list of all of the events that are scheduled during your visit. Click View Details on a particular event to learn more about it. Be aware that many events are free, but some do require an extra fee and/or advanced registration.
Trail Quest
While doing some reading for this post, I stumbled upon the page for Trail Quest. Participants can earn pins for visiting Virginia state parks. Earn the Master Hiker designation by visiting all of the participating parks and be recognized by a staff member. If we lived in Virginia, I would definitely want to do this.
Boating
At Pocahontas, you can rent paddle boats, stand-up paddleboards, canoes, and kayaks. They even have self-serve kayak rentals, which you can learn more about on their website.
Running and Hiking
If you want to hike, run, or bike (with or without a dog), Pocahontas is a great place to start. The park has more than 90 miles of trail, many of which you can access directly from the campground without having to get in a car.
We started Saturday morning with a run through the park. Aiken and I did about 5 miles and stuck mainly to the park roads.
Later, we took both dogs out for some hiking on the trails.
Pocahontas Aquatic Center
Pocahontas State Park has an aquatic center. According to the website, the aquatic center has “a toddler pool, fountain wet deck, three-foot and five-foot deep leisure pools, two tubular water slides and an activity pool.”
There’s a snack bar with pizza, hot dogs, chicken tenders, ice cream, drinks, and more. It also appears that you can bring food/coolers in with you if you prefer to bring food from home.
There are some covered picnic tables within the fenced aquatic center in addition to many many picnic tables (and grills) outside of it.
List for Next Time
There’s never enough time to see everything. These are unrelated to the recreation opportunities at Pocahontas, but here’s our list of things we want to see/do the next time we’re in this area.
- Small gift shop near the park entrance: We’ve been to the camp store within the campground, but there appears to be a small gift shop by the park entrance. We’ve have yet to pass it at a time when it’s open and we have a few minutes to spare.
- Old Crows Tavern: We passed this place on the way to dinner at Glory Days Grill. It’s about 17 minutes from the campground store. We didn’t eat there, so I can’t say if the food is any good, but the name alone is enough to make me want to visit.
- Metro Richmond Zoo: Surprisingly, it’s less than 20 minutes west of the park. Seems like a good thing to do if you’ll be in the area a while.
Where We Ate
Glory Days Grill
Glory Days Grill didn’t make a fabulous impression on us. The food wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great. It was an average experience overall. We like Pocahontas State Park, so I’m sure we’ll be back to the area again. At that point, I think we’ll probably try somewhere else.
Wildlife
We passed these two beautiful imperial moths on the trail.
I’ve never seen this kind of bug before! I had to ask AI what he was. It suggested he’s a greater Elm leaf beetle. After looking at some Google images, that seems right to me.
I found these bugs on a plant outside the camp store. The internet suggests they are a type of red aphid.
Happy travels!
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