Visiting Virginia, in July??. Yes, after many years not accepting his invitation, we traveled to attend the annual Fourth of July bash hosted by my son James’ and his wife. And to visit daughter Valerie and family.

The Drive In

The entrance to Newport News Park – north on Jefferson Avenue, just north of Fort Eustis Blvd. Turn east onto Constitution Way, 1 mile to the parking lot next to the bridge across the lake.

The Hike

Notes about the Google Earth screenshot: the graph at the bottom shows elevation of the track (pink area) and speed (the blue line).

This was a favorite hike for us back when we lived in York County, winter and summer. Across the lake on the bridge, then into open forest on a well groomed trail. Tho’ not this day, one can continue around the upper end of the lake and return to parking.

Statistics

Total Distance:  2.31 miles
Elevation: start 17 ft, maximum 119 ft,  minimum 17 ft
Gross gain: 102 ft.  Aggregate ascending 757 ft, descending 731 ft
Maximum slope: 50% ascending, 51% descending, 10.0% average
Duration: 1:13, Average Speed: 1.9 mph

If you haven’t explored these hiking tracks with Google Earth, I urge you to try it. With the virtual 3-dimensional presentation, achieved by panning and tilting the view, you can get a much better idea of the hikes and terrain than you can get from the screenshot above. For some ideas, check out  Using Google Earth Track Files.

References and Resources

AllTrails: Newport News White Oak Trail, Virginia
Go Hike Virginia: Newport News Park: An Easy Wetlands Hike on the White Oak Nature Trail
Hiking Project: White Oak nature Trail

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Last Updated on July 19, 2025 by George Young