Important Notices
COVID-19 & the VBWT: Be Safe While OutdoorsDGIF encourages you to be safe while outdoors. Before heading out, first check with individual sites on the Virginia Bird & Wildlife Trail to find out whether they are still open to the public. Information regarding closures is typically posted on a site's own website. Be advised that some sites, even if still open, may have certain public facilities closed during this time. If a site is still open, maintain CDC social distancing guidelines while enjoying the outdoors. |
Sites on this loop:
- CMA01: The Nature Conservancy’s Vandell Preserve at Cumberland Marsh
- CMA02: Glenns Campus, Rappahannock Community College
- CMA03: Dragon’s Lair 1
- CMA04: Waterfence Landing
- CMA05: Melrose Landing
- CMA06: King and Queen Fish Cultural Station
- CMA07: Walkerton Landing
- CMA08: Zoar State Forest
- CMA09: Dabney’s Mill Landing, King William County
Description
The Mattaponi Loop offers a transition from the upland woods and river rapids of the Richmond Loop to the marsh locations of Mathews and Gloucester. Pine-oak forest communities dominate this rural area and are interspersed with farmland and freshwater tidal rivers. The loop features stops along the mighty rivers that divide Virginia’s western shore. A variety of wildlife can readily be seen along these waterways, including a myriad of waterfowl, nesting ospreys, and majestic bald eagles. The loop route guides visitors to pristine bald cypress-dominated bottomland forests where interesting reptiles, amphibians, and songbirds reside. The loop continues through the deciduous upland forest typical of the Middle Peninsula interior.
Loop Map

Services
Gloucester County Chamber of Commerce
804.693.2425
gccc@inna.net
New Kent Chamber of Commerce
804.932.9614
mdaniel445@aol.com
River Country Tourism Council
804.843.4499
hrsherwood@aol.com
Tappahannock-Essex Chamber of Commerce
804.443.5241
llumpkin@crosslink.net
West Point/Tri-Rivers Chamber of Commerce
804.843.4620
chamber@westpointva.com