Sites On This Loop
- PFB01: Aquia Landing
- PFB02: Belmont, Gari Melchers Estate
- PFB03: Belmont Ferry Farm Trail
- PFB04: Washington’s Ferry Farm
- PFB05: Pettigrew Wildlife Management Area
- PFB06: Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge, Port Royal Unit
- PFB07: Meadowview Biological Research Station
- PFB08: Guinea Flats – This site has been withdrawn from the VBWT
Description
The Fredericksburg Loop offers visitors a chance to view birds not easily seen at other locations. Numerous beaver ponds, three reservoirs, and two tidal wetlands provide extensive wetland habitat for a variety of plants, birds, aquatic insects, and animals. Upland habitats include pine and hardwood forests, brushy fields and grasslands. Bottomland hardwood forests, upland early succession woods, and managed fields are other habitat regimes encountered on this loop. Sites such as the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge are a birder’s dream. Superb habitat creates venues at which as many as 180 bald eagles have been sighted in a single day. High, wooded bluffs provide perfect hunting perches for these great birds. In addition to the wildlife, this loop is steeped in history from George Washington’s boyhood home at Ferry Farm to Belmont, the home of the famous American artist Gari Melchers. This loop is a great mix of both wildlife and history.
Loop Map
Services
Caroline County Chamber of Commerce
804.633.5264
chamber@bealenet.com
Caroline County Economic Development Office
804.633.4074
gwilson@co.caroline.va.us
Fredericksburg Office of Economic Development and Tourism
800.260.3646
khedelt@fburg.city.state.va.us
Fredericksburg Regional Chamber
540.373.9400
linda@fredericksburgchamber.org
Sposylvania County Department of Tourism
877.515.6197
tourism@spotsylvania.va.us