Chesapeake Trail
From our founding, Chesapeake Conservancy has supported the National Park Service (NPS) Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail (Chesapeake Trail), which has driven land conservation and recreational access to the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers, just as the Appalachian National Scenic Trail has done since the 1920s.
Established in 2006 and based on his map and written accounts, the trail commemorates Captain John Smith's exploration of the Bay from 1607 through 1609 and the Indigenous people who have lived in the region for more than 10,000 years. NPS and partners have completed numerous Indigenous Cultural Landscape studies as a resource to the trail.
Administered by NPS, the Chesapeake Trail is the nation's first primarily water-based national historic trail. It connects with 16 national wildlife refuges, 12 national parks and three other national trails. The trail offers opportunities for tourism, environmental and cultural education, conservation and recreation.
Together with the National Park Service and our other partners, through the framework of the Chesapeake Trail, we have protected thousands of acres of vital land at places like Werowocomoco, created more than 250 new public access sites and connected millions of people with the natural beauty of our vast watershed.
Learn more! Watch this video and read more about the history of the Chesapeake Trail. Explore the Chesapeake Trail through these partnership resources:
Chesapeake Trail Virtual Tours
Take a virtual tour of the Chesapeake Trail from your computer or mobile device. Enjoy tours of more than a dozen Chesapeake tributaries and featured sites like Mallows Bay – Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary where you can view the beautiful shipwrecks steeped in our nation's history that now serve as ecological habitats. Take in the beautiful James River as it flows through Virginia or the mighty Susquehanna, the lifeblood of the Chesapeake, pouring about 20 billion gallons of freshwater into the Bay each day. We hope that the virtual tours will inspire and help plan a real trip to these beautiful rivers of the Chesapeake.
Chesapeake Trail Boater's Guide
A Boater's Guide to the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail is a free online publication that introduces paddlers, skiffers and cruisers to exploration of the Chesapeake Trail. Gain practical information about trailheads, trip itineraries, and water conditions interwoven with the historical context of the Chesapeake's waters explored by Captain John Smith more than four centuries ago. Choose between a printed version or our Mobile Boater's Guide.
Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System
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Photo by NOAA
In 2007, coinciding with the 400th anniversary of Captain John Smith's exploration of the Chesapeake Bay, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) launched the Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System (CBIBS), which marks points along the Chesapeake Trail.
Chesapeake Trail Cross Markers Project
Photo by Ed Haile
Captain John Smith's 1612 map, Virginia Discoverd & Discribed, even to the casual eye, presents our earliest picture of the Chesapeake Bay with uncanny accuracy. But something else emerges. There are 27 "Maltese" crosses scattered throughout the map.
Smith historian Ed Haile, Chesapeake Conservancy Board Member Charlie Stek and volunteer Connie Lapallo put together the Chesapeake Trail Cross Project to restore 24 cross sites with granite markers where Smith left the originals to be waypoints of the trail in Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. Explore our Chesapeake Trail Cross Marker story map.
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Feature Photo by Chris Cerino/Sultana Education Foundation
