Yorktown Riverwalk & Nolan Trail Walks – 05/15, 17, & 18/2022

During a visit to family in Virginia, Pat & I returned to trails that we often walked when we lived there twelve years ago: the Noland Trail at the Mariner’s Museum in Newport News and the Riverwalk at Yorktown. These were a means for us to maintain a level of ‘fitness’, even ‘tho these trails are near sea level, not at 5,000+ ft is in New Mexico, and there is virtually no elevation gain on these trails.

The Hikes (Walkabouts)

The York River Riverwalk

York River Walkabout.PatValCurtis.2022-05-15

The Riverwalk begins in downtown Yorktown and follows the shoreline of the York River towards the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown. It a paved trail, passing under the Coleman Memorial Bride, then past the Watermen’s Museum, and up on the hill where there is a battlement dating from the Revolutionary War.

Oh, and Pat & I did take a 2 hour sail on the Yorktown schooner Alliance. That brought back memories of sailing on the York River and Chesapeake Bay.

The Noland Trail at the Mariner’s Museum

Noland Trail Walks.Pat.2022-05-18 & 19

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

The Nolan Trail is a well used trail familiar to us – we walked it often when we lived there 12 years ago. It follows the shoreline of The Mariners’ Lake (also known as Lake Maury), densely forested for most of it’s length. In many places it offers great views of the lake. The trail is generally smooth dirt, but with many exposed roots which have been painted with neon orange stripes —  as a caution for unaware hikers? Nearby is the Mariner’s Museum with a major collection of maritime artifacts, “the largest maritime history collection in the Western Hemisphere” (Wikipedia).

Statistics

York River Walk, 05/15/2022
Total Distance:  1.50 miles
Elevation: start  8 ft, maximum  51 ft,  minimum  9 ft
Gross gain:  42 ft.  Aggregate ascending  170 ft, descending  157 ft
Maximum slope: 19% ascending, 17% descending, 3.4% average
Duration: 0:50

Nolan Trail Walk, 05/17/2022
Total Distance:   4.09 miles
Elevation: start  33 ft, maximum  142 ft,  minimum  14 ft
Gross gain:  128 ft.  Aggregate ascending  135 ft, descending  135 ft
Maximum slope: NA% ascending, NA% descending, NA% average
Duration: 1:40

Nolan Trail walk, 05/18/2022
Total Distance:   3.14 miles
Elevation: start   34 ft, maximum   142 ft,  minimum 10 ft
Gross gain: 132 ft.  Aggregate ascending NA ft, descending NA ft
Maximum slope: NA% ascending, NA% descending, NA% average
Duration: 1:28

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

The York River Riverwalk

AllTrails: Yorktown Waterfront Walk
Hoppy Hikers: Yorktown Riverwalk

The Noland Trail at the Mariner’s Museum

Go Hike Virginia: Noland Trail: A Relaxing Loop Hike Around …
AllTrails: Noland Loop Trail