Credit: Rex Springston

Any time I write about state parks in my T-D column, it draws a lot of reader response. It’s not surprising: Over 8 million people visited one of Virginia’s 35 state parks last year. As a unit, Virginia state parks are some of the most diverse, best run state parks I’ve been to. True, that’s a limited sample, but I’ve been to parks in Maine, New York, Utah, Colorado and a few other states, and Virginia has them all beat.

Today I wrote about the parcels around the state owned by the Department of Conservation and Recreation that are in various stages of becoming state parks. The good news for Central Virginians is that the next state park will almost certainly be Powhatan SP, on the banks of the James in Powhatan County. Director Joe Elton told me that construction is ongoing on the 1,500 acres next to Beaumont Juvenile Correction Center. He said that if funding comes through in the next General Assembly session, the park should be open for day use by this time next year. It should be a great place to boat and fish, among other pursuits.

Click here to read about the other parks in the works.