Shared by Ralph Heimlich, as Guest Blogger.

Have you ever camped or had a kayak adventure at Machicomoco State Park? Well, experienced paddler Ralph E. Heimlich shares his adventures so everyone can become more familiar with a newer Virginia State Park, Machicomoco.  

Heimlich is a member of the Chesapeake Paddlers Association, which is an organization of more than 600 kayak enthusiasts from all over the Chesapeake Bay Region. Heimlich, along with seven other members, enjoyed their first stay at Machicomoco State Park this year.

Day 1

My expeditions into southern Virginia for kayaking have mostly been limited to old standbys --Chickahominy and the Great Dismal Swamp. When a new Virginia State Park opened on the York River, I knew I had to check it out. After one of the Chickahominy campers, I scouted the new park on the way home. It was very different, so I knew I had to plan a kayaking trip to this area using Machicomoco as a base. 

The park features a campground with sites for vehicle camping and hike-in tent sites, as well as three overnight yurts, two picnic shelters, a car-top boat launch pier with an accessible boat entry structure, and a set of small floating docks on Timberneck Creek for daytime boat tie-ups and fishing.

Campsite with the bathhouse in background

Located in the southern part of Gloucester County, this park’s theme is Native American origins and traditions. The campground is laid out in a large circle with a bathhouse in the center. RV sites featuring water and electric hookups are located along the main circle. Three smaller arcs of tent-only walk-in sites are located along the western side, with trees buffering the camp from the waters of Cedarbush Creek. I would recommend using a wagon or cart for your gear if you are using the walk-in sights, as none are provided.  There is very little shade for the RV campers. The park also has three yurts available for rent. The bath house is unique in having private, unisex bath, shower, and bath/shower rooms only, with no large communal bath or toilet rooms. It was just like using your own bathroom at home. 

Our group of 8 (Lois Wyatt, Jim Allen, Robert Moore, Al Tilson, Joe Messier, Gary and Michelle Trotter and I) arrived in mid-June and set up camp with a glowering thunderstorm heading our way. We perhaps should have been better coordinated to all be on the same tent-only arc (one couple had a camper in the RV sites), but there was no opportunity for conviviality on arrival night as the rain soon descended. 

Preparing to launch at Tanyard Landing

I had distributed a list of potential paddles and launch sites to the group and because of the continuing small craft warning on the larger Bay, we opted to paddle one of the tributaries of the York protected from wind. Tanyard Landing on Poropotank Creek is about 30 minutes from the park and has adequate parking for our group along with a boat ramp for launching. We opted to paddle upstream and passed the remains of Miller Landing, an old steamboat wharf with public access about 1.5 miles upstream. We then decided to turn around to stop for lunch at the landing. Paddling downstream past our launch point, no one was ready to call it quits, so we paddled on to where the creek widened out to Morris Bay and (at Lois Wyatt’s insistence) eventually reached the York River itself. The entire paddle was about 14 miles.

Day 2

On Saturday, with the small craft warning past, we opted to paddle the waters of southwest Mobjack Bay. We had three potential paddles to choose from: Launching from Gloucester Point Park to paddle across the mouth of the York River and land at Yorktown Battlefield for a short walk up to the visitor center and victory monument; launching from Back Creek to paddle the Goodwin Islands; and launching from the northwest fork of Back River to paddle out to Plum Tree National Wildlife Refuge. We chose to paddle to the Goodwin Islands because we thought it would be less crowded.

A half-hour drive from the park took us to Back Creek Park’s boat ramp, which was thankfully not very busy. We hopped into the queue with paddlers crossing the creek to hang out in the shade until all of us were on the water. 

Goodwin Islands. Photo by Robert Moore

We hugged the left bank shallows leaving Back Creek, well away from the marked channel. Soon, the low, sandy Goodwin Islands came into view, just as a nice breeze began, which helped us cool off. The Goodwin Islands are a 777-acre archipelago of salt-marsh islands surrounded by inter-tidal flats, extensive submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) beds (300 acres), a single constructed oyster reef and shallow open estuarine waters. Salt marsh vegetation is dominated by salt marsh cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) and salt meadow hay (Spartina patens). Forested wetland ridges are dominated by estuarine scrub/shrub vegetation. Mixed oak and pine communities are found on upland ridges located on the largest island, nearest to the mainland. The water is clear, and we were able to observe many small fish, crabs and turtles playing in the SAV as we paddled out. 

Lunch at Goodwin Islands

Goodwin Islands are owned by the College of William and Mary and managed by the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences (VIMS) for research and conservation purposes. All of the islands are posted with limited access signs, so we restricted our presence to the sandy beach. I pitched a small tarp I had brought along for shade in the fierce heat, which greatly improved our lunch stay. Other boaters were using the beaches and anchored out off the islands on this nice, sunny Saturday. We completed an 8.5-mile circumnavigation of the islands, heading back up Back Creek in the early afternoon. 

Both Back Creek Park and Machicomico State Park feature kayak launches equipped with long walkways and high guardrails (to minimize disturbance to the Bay Critical Area zone) as well as floating mechanical roller-type launch platforms. We stayed away from both of these because they are not well suited for long (16-18 foot) sea kayaks and the rollers are not kind to composite (fiberglass and Kevlar) kayaks which can suffer delamination from pressure where the rollers hit.

Machicomoco launch

These roller-ramp launches are made to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which is important for making parks more accessible to all. I would like to see more facilities with equipment that can accommodate sea kayakers, but we still have the beach and the boat ramp options for launching our kayaks. We used the boat ramps on both of our trips.

After the paddle, we decided to go out for an early dinner at a restaurant recommended by friends of Joe Messier. We drove into very busy Old Town Yorktown, managed to find parking and enjoyed a very nice dinner at the Water Street Grille. The Grille sits right at the southern mouth of the York River in sight of the bridge, but we opted to be inside with the A/C. Seafood, burgers and after-paddle libations were enjoyed by all.

Day 3

After a peaceful summery night in camp, several of our party opted for an early departure for home, but three of us planned another short paddle on the homeward-bound journey. 

I have often paddled locations on the north bank of the tidal Rappahannock River (i.e., the Northern Neck), but have never ventured along the south bank. We found an interesting launch at Canoe House Landing and Public Beach, just off Route 17 on Route 605. When we arrived at about 10:30 a.m., there was only one other car in the parking lot. We carried our boats directly down to the beach, loaded them up and paddled off on a very calm and wide (about 3 miles) stretch of the Rappahannock.

Canoe House launch

We were just opposite Belle Isle State Park on the northern bank. Our goal was to paddle down river to an area called “The Punch Bowl” delineated by sand spits and islands, then up Parrot Creek to Mill Stone Landing, another public boat ramp. It was a very nice and easy paddle with just enough breeze to keep the temps down. We found our way into the Punch Bowl, but I made a mistake (no chart) and paddled too far right into what we learned is Mud Creek before getting directions from a local boater. We eventually found our way to Parrot Creek and found the ramp, where we had a short lunch in the shade of some pine trees near the port potty. 

Once our lunch break was over, we paddled back out onto the Rappahannock and upriver with the tide, arriving back to a more crowded Canoe House Beach. We did about 11 miles round trip on our “short” paddle, mostly because of the mistaken identity for Parrot Creek. 

Paddle on the Rappahannock

Machicomoco State Park is a beautiful state park with a very nice facilities hat gives camping paddlers access to a number of paddling venues on the York River, its tributaries and the southwest corner of Mobjack Bay. The camping setup is a bit unusual to me as I am much more akin to back packing and this setup requires a bit more organization to avoid endless trips back to your vehicle. The whole weekend was very enjoyable. 

Plan your next visit

You too can enjoy an adventure like Ralph and his group had at Machicomoco State Park. As he mentioned, the park is a great spot to camp and provides access to the water.

Programs and special events are offered during the year that are suitable for the whole family. For a full list of upcoming events, check out the park website.

Be sure to plan your next stay by booking your spot through the Virginia State Park reservation system.