Virginia's Wild Side: Fifty Outdoor Adventures from the Mountains to the Ocean

Curtis J. Badger

University of Virginia Press, 2003 - Science - 210 pages

Fair warning to all of Virginia's couch potatoes: Curtis Badger has compiled such an engaging and refreshingly unconventional treasury of outdoor adventures that you may be compelled to give up your seat. He will send you in pursuit of rare salamanders on the slopes of Mount Rogers, to dig clams on tidal flats along the coast, and to spot eagles along the bluffs of the Potomac River.

Dividing Virginia into four regions--the Eastern Shore; the Tidewater, Middle Peninsula, and Northern Neck; Central Virginia and the Highlands; and Southwest Virginia--Badger hikes, bikes, canoes, and kayaks his way through some of the Commonwealth's best-known, and least-known, natural areas. He fishes for trout in the James River, confronts bears on Stony Man Mountain, and looks for migrating birds in the Blue Ridge. He kayaks on the Pamunkey, bikes on former railroad beds, and searches for gold at Lake Anna. Yet as much as Badger provides an invaluable guidebook for the active outdoor explorer, his is also a writer's journal of entertaining essays sure to please the most adventurous reader.

Whether used as a family guidebook for easy weekend jaunts or a natural history resource for students of the Old Dominion, Virginia's Wild Side will motivate even the armchair traveler to experience fifty very special Virginia places.

Contents

• The Eastern Shore: 1
• On Burtons: 3
• Clam Sign: 7
• Tangier by Bike: 11
• Birding on the Bridge: 15
• Fisherman Island: 19
• BeachCombing: 23
• ColdWeather Canoeing: 26
• Chincoteague in Winter: 31
• Fought the Cobia and the Cobia: 35
• FlyFishing in the Chesapeake: 38
• SurfFishing: 41
• A DawntoDusk Search for Birds: 45
• Onancock by Kayak: 49
• Wood Aerobics: 53
• Tidewater the Middle Peninsula and the Northern Neck: 57
• King William on the Grill: 59
• Birding by Bike: 63
• Back Bay and False Cape: 67
• The Great Dismal Swamp: 71
• Alive in the Killing Fields: 75
• Mountain Biking Tidewater Style: 79
• Chippokes Plantation State Park: 84
• Biking Mathews County: 88
• Belle Isle State Park: 92
• Westmoreland State Park: 96
• Caledon Natural Area Preserve: 100
• Paddling the Pamunkey: 104
• Central Virginia and the Highlands: 109
• Pocahontas State Park: 111
• Lake Anna: 115
• Skyland Lodge: 119
• Limberlost Trail: 123
• Stony Man Mountain: 127
• Mr Crabtrees Falls: 130
• Warblers at Wintergreen: 135
• Sherando Lake: 139
• The Chessie Trail: 143
• Doubtlessly Douthat: 147
• The Civilian Conservation Corps: 150
• Sweet Land of Goshen: 153
• Its Called Fishing Not Catching: 157
• Southwest Virginia: 161
• Bass and Whitewater: 163
• To McAfee Knob with Olen Waldrip: 167
• Roaring: 171
• The New River Trail: 175
• Grayson Highlands: 179
• Hellbent on Salamanders: 182
• The Virginia Creeper Trail: 186
• Warblers in the Mist: 191
• Hungry Mother State Park: 199
• Guest River Gorge Trail: 203
• Natural Tunnel State Park: 206

About the author

Curtis J. Badger, a freelance writer and photographer in Onancock, Virginia, is the award-winning author of thirty-three books, including Salt Tide: Cycles and Currents of Life along the Coast, Bellevue Farm: Exploring Virginia?s Coastal Countryside, and A Naturalist?s Guide to the Virginia Coast.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Virginia's Wild Side: Fifty Outdoor Adventures from the Mountains to the Ocean
• Author: Curtis J. Badger
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: University of Virginia Press, 2003
• ISBN: 0813921627, 9780813921624
• Length: 210 pages
• Subjects: Science / Environmental Science; Sports & Recreation / General; Sports & Recreation / Outdoor Skills; Travel / Essays & Travelogues; Travel / Reference; Travel / Special Interest / Adventure; Travel / United States / South / South Atlantic (DC, DE, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV)