First Landing State Park Has a Cypress Swamp at Sea Level

First Landing State Park Has a Cypress Swamp at Sea Level

Northern tip of Virginia Beach, where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic. Same spot where Jamestown colonists made first landfall in 1607. The Navy decided in the 1930s to protect this coastline, which may be the best decision any military branch ever made about a beach.

The Bald Cypress Nature Trail is the draw — 1.5 miles on boardwalk through a swamp that looks like Louisiana, not coastal Virginia. Bald cypress trees rising from black water, knobby knees breaking the surface, Spanish moss filtering the light into green-gold haze. The trail transitions from swamp to dune forest to beach, and each habitat is so distinct that crossing between them feels like changing channels.

October is best — cypress needles turn copper, summer beachgoers disappear. The mosquitoes in summer are genuinely awful. Bring spray or don't come between June and September. Parking fee is $10-15, trails are worth ten times that.