The Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network is a partnership program of the National Park Service and a system of over 150 parks, refuges, museums, historic communities and water trails in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. As a partnership program, it is not considered a Unit of the National Park System. Sites in the greater Chesapeake Bay Watershed are eligible to participate in the Network, including sites in the Potomac River basin out to West Virginia and sites in the Susquehanna River basin out to New York State.
Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network
https://www.nps.gov/cbgn/index.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake_Bay_Gateways_Network
The Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network is a partnership program of the National Park Service and a system of over 150 parks, refuges, museums, historic communities and water trails in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. As a partnership program, it is not considered a Unit of the National Park System. Sites in the greater Chesapeake Bay Watershed are eligible to participate in the Network, including sites in the Potomac River basin out to West Virginia and sites in the Susquehanna River basin out to New York State.
The Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network connects you with the natural and cultural heritage of the Chesapeake Bay watershed through more than 170 exceptional parks, wildlife refuges, museums, sailing ships, historic communities, trails and more. Gateways Network partner sites and water trails are the special places where you can experience the authentic Chesapeake.
Chesapeake Bay Office
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
A BOATER’S GUIDE
TO THE
CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH CHESAPEAKE
NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAIL
BY JOHN PAGE WILLIAMS
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE
CHESAPEAKE CONSERVANCY
and the
CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PROJECT PARTNERS
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CHESAPEAKE BAY OFFICE
National Park Service Chesapeake
Bay Office (CHBA) leads National
Park Service efforts to connect
people to the natural and cultural
heritage of the Chesapeake region.
CHBA administers the Chesapeake Bay
Gateways and Watertrails Network, the
Captain John Smith Chesapeake National
Historic Trail, and the Star-Spangled Banner National
Historic Trail. CHBA is a federal partner in the multistate and federal Chesapeake Bay Program and has
a leadership role in the federal coordinated Strategy
for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay
Watershed, in response to Executive Order 13508,
issued in 2009.
To learn more about National Park Service initiatives
for the Chesapeake Bay and the best places to
experience the authentic Chesapeake, start with
online visits to the following websites:
Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network
www.baygateways.net
Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail
www.smithtrail.net
Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail
www.nps.gov/stsp
CHESAPEAKE CONSERVANCY
The Chesapeake Conservancy
is dedicated to ensuring
conservation, stewardship
and access for the Chesapeake Bay, its lands and
rivers. The Conservancy was created out of a merger
between the Friends of the John Smith Chesapeake
Trail and Friends of Chesapeake Gateways.
The Chesapeake Conservancy works toward three
strategic goals:
• To realize the full potential of the Captain John
Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail and
the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails
Network, and coordinate with other Chesapeake
Bay trails to promote recreation and tourism along
with education about the Bay and its waterways
• To generate and direct public and private financial
and technical resources to conserve the Bay’s
significant landscapes and expand public access
• To advance the establishment of new conservation,
recreation and public access corridor designations
on the Chesapeake.
To learn more about the Chesapeake Conservancy’s
programs, visit www.chesapeakeconservancy.org,
contact info@chesapeakeconservancy.org, or call
443-321-3610.
CHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation
(CBF) was one of the founding
supporters for the Captain John
Smith Chesapeake National Historic
Trail. CBF is the largest privately
funded, nonprofit organization
dedicated solely to protecting
and restoring the Chesapeake Bay. The Foundation
offers a wide range of educational, advocacy, and
stewardship programs.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has adopted Captain
John Smith’s descriptions of the Chesapeake in the
early 1600s as a baseline for measuring a rich and
balanced Bay. CBF provides an annual State of the
Bay report comparing the current health of the Bay
to that baseline.
Contact the Chesapeake Bay Foundation at
webadmin@cbf.org or 410-268-8816. Visit the
foundation online at www.cbf.org.
i
About the Guide
A Boater’s Guide to the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail is a
joint project of the National Park Service Chesapeake Bay Office, the Chesapeake
Conservancy, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. As the first guide to America’s first
national water trail, this publication introduces paddlers and boaters to the best places
to access the trail. Author John Page Williams expertly weaves practical information
for today’s boaters with the historical context of the Chesapeake’s waters explored by
Captain John Smith four centuries ago.
The Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail was designated as
part of the National Trails System in 2006. The National Park Service completed a
comprehensive management plan in 2011 for the development of the trail. While
this Boater’s Guide describes many places where boaters can access and explore the
trail now, many more access areas and facilities will be added as trail development
continues. For this reason, the Boater’s Guide is an online publication, designed to be
updated as new information becomes available.
The National Park Service acknowledges with appreciation the contributions of the
Chesapeake Conservancy and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation as partners in creating
this first Boater’s Guide to the Smith trail. We appreciate also the reviewers who gave
feedback to improve the Guide. While we have endeavored to provide accurate current
information at the time of publication, trailhead details, in particular, are subject to
change. We encourage users of this Guide to verify contact information as they prepare
for their travels along the trail. We also invite users of the Guide to notify the author of
changes and new information to be considered for future editions. He can be reached
by e-mail at jpwilliams@cbf.org.