Petersburg Confederate Battery 5 Interpretive Trail
in Virginia · centroid 21 mi from Richmond
The Battery 5 Interpretative Trail is a short paved walk. This sidewalk takes you into Battery #5 of the Confederate Dimmock Line, captured by the U.S. Army on June 15, 1864. Walk into the battery. The trail also goes below the battery to the position of the 13 in mortar known as "The Dictator." The trail turns from pavement to crushed gravel as it moves along railroad tracks before circling back to the starting point.
Please note the paved trail down to "The Dictator" is at a 10% slope for a run of approximaltly 200 feet.
- States
- Virginia
- Trail type
- National Battlefield trail
- Centroid nearest city
- Richmond, VA · 21 mi · ~35 min drive
- Centroid coords
- 37.2440°, -77.3567°
About Petersburg National Battlefield
This trail is inside Petersburg National Battlefield, a national battlefield 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.
Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/confederate-battery-5-interpretive-trail.htm
Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/pete/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 Petersburg Confederate Battery 5 Interpretive Trail 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.