"The Dictator" Trail
in Virginia · centroid 21 mi from Richmond
"The Dictator" was a sizeable 13-inch seacoast mortar used by the Federals during the siege. Although this mortar is not the original one, it is the same weapon from the Civil War era. When the "Dictator" arrived at the siege in July of 1864, positioned here on a rail car to fire on Confederate batteries north of the Appomattox River.
Before removal, in September, it had sent 218 shells across the river.
- States
- Virginia
- Trail type
- National Battlefield trail
- Centroid nearest city
- Richmond, VA · 21 mi · ~35 min drive
- Centroid coords
- 37.2450°, -77.3571°
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/dictator-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 "The Dictator" 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.