Five Forks Battlefield

It was chilly out there!

unfortunately the southeastern part of the trail is overgrown and poorly marked. Otherwise its a good trail.

There are actually several trails, the trees are marked but the pathways are not always clear if you’re not paying attention. It’s not crowded at all, very quiet and peaceful. Grab a branch to swing in front of you, there are some spiders. You’ll definitely want bug spray.

Easy trail run, minus may flies. End of the loop, trail was a little hard to find.

if you spray peppermint oil on hat and cloths the flys and bugs will be gone

A shady walk in the woods. Starting off the trails are clearly marked but towards the end they are very over grown. Was tough seeing the red blazes. Was a hot day so the shade really helped. Don’t know how you stay on this trail without this app!

Since the visitor center was closed, I located a parking area right past it on the left. I rode my bike from here to access the trail head behind the visitors center. There were several trees that were down across the trails. This could be due to fact that the visitor center was closed and nobody is really maintaining the trails, not sure. However, the Petersburg National Battlefield trails located near Fort Lee are very well maintained as I'm a regular there. The two biggest negatives of this trail was the BUGS and poor guidance for trail markers. The bugs were outrageous as I had to keep getting off of my bike because of being bit on the face/neck/arms. Also, If it wasn't for the All Trails app/map, I wouldn't have known which direction to go several times. I would say the level of the trail is moderate. There was a mailbox located on the trail where you overlooked what looked like a pond/marsh that has a log book inside (Hatcher's Run) that you can sign, which is pretty cool. There were also some nice boulders on this trail.

Was a good moderate trail. Easy to get turned around if you aren’t constantly watching the map. We were warned before entering that the last portion of the trail coming out of second marker had a lot of ticks so we avoided that by just finishing on the road. Ended up right back at the lot we parked at since the actual Visitors Center was closed.

(Note: this trail is actually a combination of multiple named trails in the park. Make sure to check your map at splits!) A quiet, easy trail through a pretty but unspectacular forest. Not much in the way of historical signage so if you are going for historical facts you may be disappointed. Also, this trail as indicated on the app leads into a giant patch of brambles right over Courthouse Road. I recommend avoiding that section. Overall a nice walk but nothing that will wow you.

Amazing when you think about the adversity civil war soldiers had to overcome in these battles.

Great walk through the woods, didn’t cross paths with anyone. Would definitely recommend downloading the map for this one. Majority of the trail is well maintained but the signage is not great and the last 1.5 mi or so is overgrown and hard to navigate. Lots of spiderwebs, but that’s to be expected in the setting.

We were going to do a long here. The first two steps on the trail I walked into a spider web. We kept going and my husband soon ran into three spider webs one of which had a large spider on it. Needless to say we turned around and ran on the road.

was well kept and easy to follow through the part I made it through. it started raining though and I had to leave, didn't make it all way through but I started from the intersection, not the visitor center. they were closed when I went.

Trails need a LOT of maintenance. There is no trail from the Visitor’s center to Courthouse Road (even though this trail shows it). And the one from Courthouse road to road stop #2 is poorly marked and maintained. Not to mention there was gunfire close by and plenty of arrows stuck in trees along these ‘trails’.

Had a great time walking the trail. Some parts are a little overgrown but still passable. Creek crossings, road crossings, animals, and plant life were awesome. Fun trail!

Some areas are not well kept, but that being said, I did have fun and it is a great ride through the woods. A bit confusing at some points but with gps or a map from the visitor center (I had gps) you can figure it out.

Pros: Great looking scenery, truly feel deep in the woods on this one. No noises from outside world. 95% of trail is pine needles for roadbed. I mountain biked the trail. This was a fun trail overall. Marked well. Cons: I felt it was marked well, but very confusing. If I didnt have my map from alltrails I would have been lost for sure. Trail is supposed to be a bhike trail, however the section (2miles) from courthouse rd to Courthouse rd gets progressively worse to the point that it was not passable biking. I had to walk the bike from White Oak Rd to Courthouse Rd.

Great clean trails, well marked. I suggest getting a trail map at the welcome center because of all of the intertwining trail segment names.

Nice long hike, trails are marked but if you don't have the map you may get turned around a bit by not knowing which trail to take back to your car. A lot of cool trees and rocks along the trails. Very quiet and shaded most the way. You can pick up a trail map at the visitor center.

Fun