Sometimes one just needs to leave the stress and hustle and bustle of everyday life behind, and relax in a natural environment. Chesapeake and surrounding areas offer many outdoor parks and reserves where one can hike, cycle, jog, fish, hunt, or just enjoy a relaxing picnic. Next time you want to escape city life, try one of these spots in and around Chesapeake.
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Oak Grove Lake Park
This is a well-kept park that offers a 1.5-mile circular trail around the perimeter of the 65-acre lake, which is ideal for walking, cycling, or jogging. Apart from the beautiful views that the lake provides, the park features forested areas, wetlands, as well as a diverse wildlife. You will see lots of butterflies, dragonflies, as well as songbirds. If you like fishing, the park also features many fishing piers.
If you don’t feel like exercising, but just hanging out in the beautiful natural surroundings, you can have a picnic at one of the many picnic tables and benches provided. There is also a kids’ play area stacked out with equipment, so they will stay entertained. Animals are also welcome.
Oak Grove Lake Park is located at 409 Bryon St.
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Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
This refuge, consisting of roughly 112,684 acres of forested wetlands wrapped around Lake Drummond at its center, offers a wide range of outdoor activities. In October and November, the refuge is frequented by hunters, and a variety of trails, open from sunrise to sunset daily, and it offers visitors the opportunity to hike or cycle. If you are into water sport, you are allowed to canoe and kayak on the lake, as well as launch small crafts. Clean restrooms are provided.
Great Dismal features a diverse wildlife population, including whitetail deer, black bears, bobcats, and river otters. The refuge is also a popular birding spot, offering more than 220 species of birds. Great Dismal is located about a 30-minute drive out of Chesapeake, at 3120 Desert Road in Suffolk.
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Hickory Ridge Farm
If you feel like experiencing farm life, Hickory Ridge Farm is open for public visits. Especially young children enjoy the activities on offer at this farm, which include hayrides, bounce houses, petting of farm animals, face painting, and strawberry and pumpkin picking. The staff is friendly, and the farmers go out of their way to inform the kids about farm life. If the kids get hungry, there are yummy snacks like cider doughnuts and kettle corn available.
The farm also offers field trips, which involve a hayride around the farm, lunch, and snacks, hay bales to climb, and a lesson on how to grow pumpkins. The farm shop stocks homemade jams, salsa, cookies, pies, and much more. Hickory Ridge Farm is located at 2928 Battlefield Blvd S., and admission is $11 per person during the week, and $13 per person over weekends.
If you need to escape from city life to rejuvenate your spirit, then you should take a drive to one of these outdoor sites in the Chesapeake area. You are bound to feel refreshed and rejuvenated after.
Image via Tony Webster | Licensed under CC BY 2.0
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