City: Richmond, VA

Category: Parks & Recreation

Description: To get a sense of industry, history, and nature in one walk, you’ve come to the right place. Though there are flood walls on both the north and south banks of the James in Richmond, the southern portion is built so that walking on top of it is allowed and encouraged. Park at the flood wall lot at the end of Semmes Avenue near the SunTrust buildings and follow the path over the railroad tracks to the overlook atop an old railroad bridge abutment for a cool view of the river and downtown. If you’re daring, you could take the trip down the “Mayan Ruins,” as runners jokingly refer to them (especially when they are chugging up them), or you could wind back and go down the hill and alongside the railroad tracks to head toward the actual flood wall. Once up there, you can walk for a mile and see herons, cormorants, and other fish-eating birds, as well as plenty of evidence of how the railroads and industry shaped Richmond, and still do. Floods are spectator sports here in Richmond now that the flood wall protects the city from the river’s most damaging effects. When the river hits flood stage at 12 feet, parts of some streets will close, but people will be drawn to the overlooks to see the water raging. Wheelchair users who want to go on the flood wall should park in the rock climbers’ parking lot under the Manchester Bridge, accessible from 7th Street, and with assistance they can navigate the packed gravel until reaching the paved top of the wall. A set of stairs ¾ of a mile in ends the wheelchair-accessible portion.