Virginia's Riverfront Canal Walk and Belle Isle Hike in Autumn

Andy likes to remind me that the word ‘hike’ simply means a long walk, though I also like to remind him that his definition of ‘long’ is different than mine. (For instance, my Yorkshireman once felt a long drive was one hour versus the American view of five hours.) Still, when I want to hike but time has escaped us or circumstances have popped up, it never fails that Andy recommends a hike in Virginia’s capital.

This brings me to November and Richmond’s Riverfront Canal Walk to Belle Isle …

1.25 miles
85-foot elevation gain
One of Five difficulty rating

Located in Richmond, the Canal Walk starts at the Kanawha Canal and heads northwest to Browns Island’s Haxall Canal located on the James River …

On the way, you walk over, next to, and under multiple rail lines, and I confess I’m partial to an autumn walk by the canal because the native Virginian plants are busting with color …

The walk is a top Richmond attraction because it showcases four centuries of the city’s history, which can be seen through monuments, exhibits, signs and plaques, over twenty medallions, and more.

Here is a brief background on the canal …

In 1774, Former President George Washington envisioned continuing travel and transportation via canals from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River. Fifteen years later in 1789, the James River Company finished construction on the project with the canal system spanning 197 miles. Soon, in 1854, improvements in the form of various Tidewater Connection granite locks were constructed.

During this time, the waterfront was the center of travel for business. Virginia crops, such as tobacco and wheat, were brought into the city via the canal. Other boat traffic was for pleasure, though it made up a small percentage with only six passenger boats (carrying anywhere from thirty to forty people each) running regularly. For these though, the boats were hitched to a horses or mules who pulled the vessels from the water to the towpath.

Still, interestingly enough, the railroads were what made Washington’s dream a reality and, because of that, the canals gradually stopped being used. For instance, canal towpaths were turned into rail lines until nearly all of Richmond’s canals disappeared.

206 years later in 1995, a push came to restore the city’s canals so that today, the canal highlights the following from the city’s past:

the Richmond Slave Trail, where the city had such a major port in the downriver Slave Trade that it sadly made Richmond the largest source of enslaved Africans on the East Coast of America from 1830 to 1860
tobacco warehouses, which are still standing and converted into apartment complexes
remains of bridges that were burned during the American Civil War
Tredegar Iron Works, which was a leading ironwork during the American Civil War due to producing artillery at a fast pace. (In fact, more than half of the cannon used by the Confederate army was cast at Tredegar.)

By now, Andy and I have walked the city’s canals so many times we both lose count, but the first time together was when we first met in July 2016. After meeting in a dive-of-a bar in Shockoe Bottom and staying until the bar kicked us out, we roamed the canal talking and laughing until the wee hours of the morning.

Another unique trait of the Riverfront Canal Walk is the swirling interstates above your head as you walk closer to the flood wall …

At one spot, you can see cars on a roadway pass under trains on rail lines under cars on interstates. In another spot, three rail lines cross above one another, making Richmond the only place in America to claim these unusual rail features.

Another trait I love about the canal walk is that it is so user-friendly — The sidewalks are wide and flat to accommodate people with special needs, and there is commonly an assortment of travelers who bike, roller skate or blade, run, or walk …

Also, part of the canal walk is a portion of Virginia’s Capitol Trail, which is a 52-mile long multi-use trail that heads south to Williamsburg.

There are many places to divert and re-enter the canal walk so Andy and I normally change our routes each time …

(Note: Another great way to also reach Haxall Canal is by dropping onto the catwalk-style pipeline! I’ll have another post on this soon too.)

Technically the Riverfront Canal Walk passes you by incredible murals in a concrete tunnel and at a former hydro-electric plant, a wooden staircase, and past a monument to a Jamestown founder named Captain Christopher Newport.

(I’ve taken pictures of much of these in past posts Virginia’s Belle Isle Hike in Winter, Virginia’s James River Hike, and Virginia’s Riverfront Canal Walk Hike in Spring coming soon).

Our route this day popped us back onto the canal where the autumn leaves are anywhere from deep reds to glowing yellows and fiery oranges …

Once on Brown’s Island, the Haxall Canal (and end of the canal walk) is in sight …

We opted to continue a bit more, walking beside a two-mile long CSX rail line that stretches over the James River …

until we reached the Robert E. Lee Bridge.

According to a plaque, this bridge is not the original Robert E. Lee Bridge. The first stood in this area for fifty-four years until it was closed and removed in 1988. In its place, this new structure was built, which is the first type to be erected in Virginia. Here’s why …

The bridge is a cast-in-place segmental box girder bridge, meaning it was built using the balanced cantilever method, which uses a long beam or girder stationed at only one end.

In this case, the cantilever was positioned at the end of the bridge to support the new formwork and concrete segments before tensioning because the new segments weighed too much to transport.

This little sightseeing spot is directly before the sidewalk turns into business-owned private property, and it is one of my favorite tuck-away places. Naturally, people are focused on walking the unusual suspension bridge (located under the Robert E. Lee Bridge) so they trek right past this little area. That means this spot is often secluded so we like to listen to the rush of water over rocks, the wind rustling leaves, and the surprising relaxing thump-thump thump-thump of vehicles traveling over the bridge.

Wanting to see a bit more, we crossed over the suspension bridge that dangles under the Robert E. Lee Bridge …

20211114 Virginia Canal Walk 056 — A look behind us where we entered

Here, there are beautiful views of the city’s skyline and river …

Once on Belle Isle, we darted on and off large river rocks …

Across the James River is the Hollywood Cemetery, a National Historic Landmark due to its Gothic Revival architecture and its burial sites of notable people …