Outing #2: Pocahontas State Park

GORP outing #2 is this Sunday at Pocahontas State Park.  We will meet at the playground inside the park at 10 a.m., do a 3-mile loop like, then (for those so inclined) have a picnic lunch back near the playground.  (See map.)

As an added challenge this time – as if getting everyone out the door on a Sunday morning isn’t challenging enough – we are inviting each family that shows up to participate in Mo’s Nature Hunt (see below).  The first family that can find all the items on Mo’s list gets to keep John for a week.  Really.

Beaver Lake Trail shortcut

Sunday’s itinerary and other details, including directions, follow.  Please note that there is a $5 entrance/parking fee (per car).  

G.O.R.P. outing #2

Date: Sunday, February 10, 2013

Location: Pocahontas State Park (10301 State Park Rd, Chesterfield, VA)

Meeting time & location: 10:00 a.m. at the playground just past the Heritage Center (see map).

Travel time: About 35 minutes from Lombardy Park in the Fan to the playground inside the park.

Directions:  Take the Powhite across the river to Chippenham Parkway South.  Take Chippenham about 6 miles to the Iron Bridge exit, and take the first Iron Bridge exit, East towards Chesterfield (same as if going to Ukrop Park/Poseidon).  Stay on Iron Bridge/VA-10 E for 6 miles, then take a RIGHT on Beach Rd.  Stay on Beach Rd. for 4 miles, then take a right into the park at the main entrance (State Park Rd.).  You will come to a guard station, where you must pay $5 per car to enter the park.  After passing the guard station, follow the main road about 1.5 miles.  Just after passing the turn for the Heritage Center and Civilian Conservation Corps Museum, on your left (don’t take it!), bear right at the fork in the road into the large parking lot.  The playground will be on your right, set back slightly in the woods, just after bearing right at the fork.  (See map.)     

ENTRANCE FEE:  $5.00 per car

Park website:  http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/poc.shtml

Rough itinerary (which no one is obligated to follow):   Meet at the playground inside the park at 10:00 a.m.  At 10:15, we’ll cross over to the trailhead, next to the CCC Museum, and then into the woods for a family-friendly (though not stroller friendly) loop hike, clockwise around Beaver Lake on the Beaver Lake Trail.  Total distance is about 3 miles.  We’ll stop for a snack at the Third Branch Creek crossing, about halfway in, then have a picnic lunch back near the playground area.

What to bring:

n  Water

n  Hat and Gloves, plus layered clothes appropriate for the weather

n  Waterproof jacket/shell

n  Backpack, with snacks.

n  Notebook/clipboard (something to write on) and pen/pencil (1 per family) – for Mo’s Nature Hunt

n  Picnic lunch (to leave in the car)

n  Kids will probably get dirty and possibly wet, so you might also consider packing in your car a change of clothes.

SAFETY:  We ask that parents be responsible for the safety of their own children. 

Pets:  Pets are permitted but must be on a leash.

PLAN “B” for Bowling:  If the weather is too wet or too cold we will instead go bowling at Sunset Lanes on West Broad (6540 West Broad Street), meeting there at 10 a.m.  Rates are $17 per person (shoes included) for two hours of bowling (2-3 games).  Sunset Lanes is kid-friendly: anyone old enough to walk is old enough to bowl.

If Plan “B” is necessary, I will alert everyone by e-mail no later than 8 a.m. on Sunday morning.  If you receive no e-mail from me, you can assume that we will be at Pocahontas State Park.

Mo’s Nature Hunt

¨ holly tree (shiny green leaves with prickly points)

¨ beech tree (light gray, smooth bark – people love to carve initials in this tree)

¨ sweetgum tree (look for “gumballs”!)

¨ pine tree (look for pine cones)

¨ oak tree (look for acorns)

¨ Canadian goose (probably more than one!)

¨ woodpecker

Beaver Lake Tree Throne

¨ beaver gnawed tree

¨ beaver dam

¨ cattails

¨ lichens (there’s a fungus among us!)

¨ mushroom (another fungi!)

¨ tree stump with more than 100 rings

¨ ferns                                                      

¨ black mold on branches

¨ shells

¨ tree throne

 

The enormous knot

¨ ground pine (club moss that looks like miniature evergreen tree)

Bonus

¨ tree with enormous knot on trunk (look downhill after passing the scenic overlook)

¨ tree in shape of arch/rainbow (near the end of the loop – can you tell what happened?)

G.O.R.P.