First Landing State Park

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City Listings

City Listing Category

Geographical Address

Duty Station(s)
Public Address
2500, Shore Drive, Virginia Beach, Virginia, 23451, United States
Postal Code
23451
latitude
36.92
longitude
-76.05

Contact Info

COMM
757-412-2300
Operating Hours
Open 24 hours a Day, 7 Days a Week.

The park is where English colonists first landed in 1607. Native American canoes, Colonial settlers, 20th-century schooners and modern cargo ships have navigated the park's waterways. Its cypress swamps were a source of freshwater for merchant mariners, pirates and military ships during the War of 1812. Legend has it that Blackbeard hid in the Narrows area of the park, and interior waterways were used by Union and Confederate patrols during the Civil War. Built in part by an all African-American Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933-1940, the park is a National Natural Landmark and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

As Virginia's most-visited state park, it's an oasis within urban Virginia Beach. The park has 20 miles of trails and 1.5 miles of sandy Chesapeake Bay beach frontage. First Landing offers many recreational and educational activities and has many unusual habitats including bald cypress swamps, lagoons and maritime forest, as well as rare plants and wildlife.

The park has cabins, water and electric hook-up campsites, picnic areas, boat ramps and a camp store.

The Chesapeake Bay Center houses historical and educational exhibits. The Trail Center conference room, outdoor courtyard, pavilion and amphitheater can be rented for special events and weddings.

Please note: The park is by a military training center that operates year-round in any weather at any time of day or night. Park guests may experience unusual sights and loudness. Nighttime training may last even beyond midnight. The activities pose no risk to park guests.

Hours

Day-use areas open 8 a.m.-dusk. When open, overnight areas are accessible 24 hours a day.

Location

From I-64, take Northampton Blvd.-U.S. 13 North (Exit 282). Go through eight lights, then turn right at the Shore Drive/U.S. 60 exit (last exit before the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel). Take a right on Shore Drive and go four and a half miles to the park entrance. To reach the Chesapeake Bay Center, park office, camping or cabins, turn left off U.S. Rt. 60 at the stoplight and check in at the contact station or park office. For the Trail Center, picnic area and trails, turn right instead.

Its address is 2500 Shore Drive, Virginia Beach, VA 23451-1415; Latitude, 36.918020. Longitude, -76.051547.

Drive Time: Northern Virginia, three and a half hours; Richmond, two hours; Tidewater/Norfolk/Virginia Beach, 20-30 minutes (this facility is in the area); Roanoke, five and a half hours.

Park Size

2,888 acres; 1.5 miles of beach

Map

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