Island Loop Drive
in Virginia · centroid 43 mi from Richmond
The tour consists of a 3 or 5 mile one way loop around the rest of Jamestown Island and begins when you turn right out of the parking lot. PLEASE NOTE: The speed limit on the Island Drive is 15 MPH. The drive will introduce you to the natural environment which the English colonists encountered.
You will also see the "Gallery in the Woods", a series of interpretive paintings illustrating the earliest industries attempted by the settlers. These paintings are located at pull offs along the drive. Please remember that the Island Drive is also used by pedestrians and bike riders.
Drive carefully and observe all speed limits. Due to weight limits of the loop drive bridges, large vehicles, such as campers, RVs and buses, are not allowed.
- States
- Virginia
- Trail type
- National Historical Park trail
- Centroid nearest city
- Richmond, VA · 43 mi · ~1.2 hr drive
- Centroid coords
- 37.2095°, -76.7708°
About Colonial National Historical Park
This trail is inside Colonial National Historical Park, a national historical park managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.
Entrance fee: $15 per vehicle (verify current rate on the park page). An America the Beautiful annual pass ($80) covers entrance to all NPS units.
Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/island-loop-drive.htm
Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/colo/index.htm
Plan your hike
Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.
Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.
When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.
If you've hiked Island Loop Drive and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
Stay nearby
Other trails within 50 miles
Sources
Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.