Rivers Bridge (Battlefield) State Park (Part 2)

Hi there! Today we continue our adventure at Rivers Bridge State Park and continue on the nature trail and battlefield. Today we pick up at the end of the nature trail and continue on to the battlefield trail. If you want to skip the nature trails and the long mile walk between the memorial grounds and the battlefield there is a separate parking area at the battleground.



There is a bench about 3/4 of the way to the battlefield if you need a seat!


When you enter the battlefield you're greeted by the first of many informative signs about the battle. The signs are kept up and placed at good intervals that explain the battlefield and events.



The trail is well marked and the first part is marked by the old fencing from that period.


This is where the old bridge was, it's gone now but you can still see the ground work on both sides for it. The trail continues and circles around the battlefield.. This spot wasn't without a casualty though... On the second picture I was trying to get Neximus in the shot and a gust of wind knocked him off and broke one of his antennas! As you can see from the third picture he is recovered nicely.




The battlefield has been preserved really good and the terrain is close to how it originally was, with the trail not being too long with just a few hills it's well worth the walk.



This is another favorite park of mine. With the great and knowledgeable rangers to the miles of trails, well kept grounds, nature and history there's plenty to see and learn. I highly recommend this park, if you're up to all the hiking you can spend most of the day here. Be sure to get with a ranger for a tour!

Rivers Bridge (Battlefield) State Park (Part 1)

Hi there! Today we visit Rivers Bridge State Park. This is a great state park and a Civil War battlefield! There are two main areas to this park, you can start at the main area with the ranger building and memorial grounds or you can go straight to the battlefield and hike the trail there. Since this is kind of like the Muskgrove Mill park with two areas, I'll split this into two posts. There's a lot of ground (literally :) to cover! We started off at the memorial grounds, then we went to the ranger station and the battlefield.

The main ranger area is really nice with a small gift shop and hall. There are several picnic tables and a picnic shelter not too far from the building.



The memorial grounds are well kept and nice, they're working on restoring a small museum that houses relics and old battle gear. There are the Civil war memorials, a WW2 memorial, several county memorials and a pavilion. There is a lot of history and a lot to be learned here.





There are two cemeteries here, one is for the fallen civil war soldiers and one is a private cemetery. There is an interesting story to both cemeteries, be sure to ask the ranger about it!!

This is the private cemetery owned by a family in the county, it sits in the middle of the park but is off limits to visitors:


And this is the soldier cemetery:


From here - or from the main ranger building - you can get to the nature trail and main battlefield hike. The area leading to the trail is nice and lush with nature. We hiked on a portion of the trail and it was in good shape, there are a few areas where the work is fresh but not in the way. The ranger told us they're still working on the nature trails and when they are finished there will be several miles worth of trails!! It's all mostly level hiking so it's not too strenuous.

This is a really cool park with a lot of history. There is plenty to see and do here, form the nature trails to the battlefield to the memorial grounds. The rangers here are super friendly and very knowledgeable, be sure to get with one before your hike to get a tour!! I highly recommend checking this park out, if you're up to the hiking you can make a full day of the park. Stay tuned for my next post as we visit the battlefield itself and walk where soldiers walked.