As I mentioned in the first post of my Trail Quest blog series, in 2020 I inadvertently started a bid to visit all of Virginia’s 43 (and counting) state parks with a pandemic isolation-era visit to Mason Neck State Park (MN). The site of friends’ kids’ birthday parties and impromptu weekend gatherings over the years, Mason Neck as our first state park was familiar, and probably – as the state park nearest our home – also the only Virginia state park we’d ever been to.
At that time, I was only peripherally aware of the state park system in Virginia. I didn’t realize how many parks existed, where they were, or how nice they were. We hiked outdoors in lots of places, but in retrospect they were northern Virginia’s abundant local parks or bigger-visit national parks. Occasionally I would see a sign for a state park off interstate 95 while we were on the way to somewhere else. But in 2023, I discovered Trail Quest.
Trail Quest is a free, self-paced Virginia State Parks program that encourages visitors to visit not only the state parks closest to them, but all the parks in exchange for some cool pins (and bragging rights).
I dropped the ball in 2021 (living in Mexico and traveling in the southwest) and 2022 (prioritizing a series of cross-country drives after we moved back). We briefly roared back to Trail Quest in 2023 with visits to Leesylvania State Park (LE) and Sky Meadows State Park (SK); then we took another long break due to family illness and just generally not being up for it.
In 2024 as the weather cooled, we decided we would try to finish Trail Quest, even if it meant me sometimes going by myself to check off a slew of parks; I hate hiking in the humidity and V hates hiking in the cold.
For our wedding anniversary in September 2024, V organized a day trip for us to visit Virginia’s newest state park, Culpeper Battlefields State Park (CB) and the nearby historic town of Culpeper. The park is so new, in fact, it isn’t yet on the Trail Quest drop-down menu to register your visit. I notified a ranger via email of our visit, and he told me to hang in there for the website update.
The Civil War battlefields are always a bit eerie to me, because I know men fought, suffered, and died there. But that reality stands in stark contrast to the bucolic meadows and peaceful silence we experience in these spaces today. As a native Californian, it’s particularly hard for me to grasp unless I see it myself. I think it’s important to remember what freedom costs by confronting our history in this way. I appreciate that the state preserves not only the natural resources we have but also their historical relevance.
In October, we took a drive through the Shenandoah Valley to our fifth park, Seven Bends State Park (SE). There we walked among the burgeoning fall foliage and enjoyed the picturesque juxtaposition between the river, meadows, and mountains. Seven Bends is a day-use park currently, so no camping is permitted, but the diversity of landscapes, proximity to water, and overall tranquility made it one of our favorite state park experiences together so far and a place we’d like to return to. The enthusiastic rangers who greeted us were also awesome, and we didn’t see a single other hiker?!
Also in October, after a trip to Kentucky I hope to write about in the future, we stopped by Douthat State Park (DO). It was our sixth park. Given how far west on the map it fell, we thought it made sense to hit it up on our way back across the West Virginia/Virginia state line instead of making a separate trip all the way back. We were in the middle of a 9-10 hour drive at the end of a three-day weekend, so we didn’t have tons of time or daylight.
However, we launched ourselves onto the nearest trail to the Visitor Center and went for around 45 minutes before having to turn around – mostly because it was too steep for me and we needed to get back on the road. As usual, I eschewed any trail maps and just concentrated on the sights and smells. I loved how wooded it was and look forward to going back someday. It’s also one of Virginia’s oldest state parks, established in 1936.
In late October, before the clocks fell back and sunset started around 17:00, I took advantage of a Burmese class admin afternoon off and hit the road west for another trip to the Shenandoahs. Many – including myself – have visited Shenandoah National Park, with its nearly quarter-million acres of trails and camping. But not many realize the far smaller Shenandoah River State Park (SH) is less than 10 miles away and much less crowded. There’s no Skyline Drive, but less cars and the foliage is the same!
This was the first Trail Quest challenge I did without V, crunching through over six miles of leaves along the Shenandoah River. It was unseasonably warm, but hardly a mosquito came for me. I tried to clear my mind of any worries or concerns and just be present with the nature.
With that visit I surpassed seven parks of the 43-park challenge. Shortly thereafter, my five-park pin arrived at my house through the mail. I put it on my desk next to my one-park pin. Four pins to go!
Collecting Postcards 
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