Author: toad

This New Year’s welcoming hike at Belle Isle will be a snap for everyone. Grab your camera (your phone will be fine) and take your best shot of what makes this park so special in your eyes.

Join friends in the picnic area from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. on January 1. Take some pics and enjoy refreshments provided by the park Friends group. Parking fees are waived if you wear comfortable walking shoes and dress for the weather. The whole family is welcome!

See you on January 1 at 3 p.m. in the Picnic Area.

On a beautiful, sunny, Halloween Eve day members of the Friends and park staff added over two dozen American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) shrubs to the area around Bel Air Manor. The planting was done primarily as “fencing” to protect the lawns from vehicular traffic, but the showy purple will provide great color late summer through early winter. Plus, the berries are great for birds and animals. Some new picket fencing will be added soon. The shrubs and fencing were purchased by the Friends with monies from an earlier landscaping grant from the Garden Club of Virginia – thanks GCV again.

There is lots to do at Belle Isle. Maybe even a stay at Bel Air. Please visit often.

The park is more beautiful than ever – if that’s possible!

Most everyone in the Northern Neck knows Robert “Bob” Mason from his work as editor of the Rappahannock Record and from his dedicated community service.

You probably didn’t know that Bob has been a zealous member of Friends of Belle Isle State Park for over twenty years. He has demonstrated outstanding and distinguished service to the organization, the park, and the community serving as the music director for the Friend’s Music by the River concert series since its inception. He has been a major fundraiser for the series and the organization. 

In recognition of his service and friendship, on October 6, 2025, the Friends conferred Life Membership upon Robert D. Mason Jr.

Thanks so much Bob!

Friends of Belle Isle is proud to be one of more than 40 local organizations across the River Counties region of Virginia that have been working to develop the Volunteer River Counties Hub to connect individuals, families, and other groups with volunteer opportunities, enhancing regional organizations’ ability to recruit volunteers. The Hub provides a coordinated approach to engaging the time and talents of residents in volunteer-based programs, helping residents and visitors alike access volunteer opportunities that interest them.

Learn more about VRC at www.volunteerrivercounties.org/

For VRC events in September click HERE. Stay tuned to our blog for info on Belle Isle’s National Public Lands Trail Clean Up on September 27.

Our superb park photographer, Marty Hill, whose photo appears here, let me know that the Porpoise Creek logbook was full. April 2 I put in new pages and brought the 100 completed pages – just since September 2024 – home to enjoy.

“BEAUTIFUL” was the big word! We agree, it is a gorgeous spot in Belle Isle, and we enjoyed building it. Here are just a few of the comments.

GB 10/20 “Great idea thanks for the innovation.”

SS 10/22 “Lovely Spot! Cool idea to have this notebook. Suggest hanging a bird & fish identification map or poster.”  [Note: a waterfowl poster is on the way.]

JC 10/25  A “harrier flew over the gulls on the sandbar and scared them off. Thanks to the FOBI members who built this new viewing station!! It’s beautiful!”

TD 11/7 “Northern Flicker – Brown Creeper – Bald Eagle – Squirrels – Gray – Minnows”

N, A & Lola (dog) 11/16  “Sunny, lightly cloudy, crisp, clear views … Lovely spot to rest & enjoy the view! ♥”

K&C 11/21 “Beautiful site for a rest and enjoy the scenery”

M&C 3/7  “Beautiful view! Love being able to participate. Our dog loves it too.”

K&M 3/19  Need “Better traffic signs to various walking trails. Thank you for providing this beautiful area. Parks are important and so are park staff!”

And – as you can see from Matry’s riverside picture – the waterfowl on our creek have a beautiful view also.

Get out, enjoy the park, and learn. Walks are led by park volunteers and members of the Northern Neck Master Naturalists. These monthly walks are over for 2025 – check back soon for the walks in 2026.

Belle Isle welcomes our new Assistant Park Manager, Kristin Ownby. Kristin, a native of Wilmington, Delaware, leaves 23 years as a Buckingham County Virginia public school teacher to pursue her love of all things nature – trees, creeks, bugs, whatever! She especially looks forward to sharing her enthusiasm with young park visitors and their families.

Kristin will also serve as the park’s Volunteer Coordinator, working with all the volunteers that contribute so much to the enjoyment of Belle Isle. WELCOME KRISTIN!

What a great way to start a new year – bright skies, mild weather, and lots of friends – new, old, 2 and 4 legged.

This large crowd gathered New Years Day 2025 to hike along Belle Isle’s Deep Creek trail from the boat landing to the visitor’s center. Rangers Rachel and Nora led the mile long walk along the Rappahannock. Rachel explained the obvious erosion and explained the plans to stem it, as has been done in other areas of the park. At the finish hikers enjoyed some crafts and the Friends of Belle Isle provided cider and cookies.

Happy New Year All!

Rehabilitation of the Porpoise Creek wildlife viewing station at Belle Isle is now complete except for the installation of a waterfowl identification poster.

Looking for ways to improve visitor experience at Belle Isle and inspired by the Virginia Wildlife Viewing Plan 2021-2031, in late 2023 the Friends and Jon Steele, Park Manager, considered the possibility of adding a new wildlife viewing station. It would be terrific to have one but we quickly realized that the rigors of regulatory compliance and major construction were a bit too much for a group inexperienced in such matters. Jon called out attention to an ageing photography blind just off the Porpoise Creek Trail on an inlet from the Rappahannock.

The blind, which we were advised was built around 2005, had seen better days. Its enclosed siding left it unattractive to most visitors and it appeared little used. It seemed to cry out for transformation into an open area overlooking the inlet it fronted. A great opportunity to stimulate interest in viewing nature in a beautiful, remote setting and to hopefully draw more people into the park.

Plans were drawn up which included not just the rehabilitation of the blind but additional “tools” for visitors to use – backpacks with binoculars and wildlife identification guides and waterfowl identification signage at the site. And new benches.

An application for funding was presented to the River Counties Community Foundation. A generous grant was received in mid-2024.

Construction began in August with a small crew (it’s a small work area) and, after over 120 volunteer hours, ended in late September. We hired professional roofers – for some reason our crew was not anxious to get into the air. A logbook was created and installed with hope that we can both track usage and get suggestions for better visitor experience.

At the October Friend’s meeting, the backpacks, equipment, and benches were presented by Frances Callaghan, Friends President, to Rachel Howell, the parks education Ranger.

We hope readers will visit the park soon and take some time to watch nature from our “new” station. Tell us about your experience in the logbook. Take along a picnic – the new benches are very comfortable!

The Friends of Belle Isle and the sponsors of Music by the River have provided Belle Isle with a new water bottle filler. Just about everyone carries a water bottle – they are a little hard to fill from a faucet or drinking fountain. Enter the water bottle filler. It’s a specially designed faucet just for filling bottles. Belle Isle has a new one just outside the restrooms at the family picnic area, near the beach and the stage for Music by the River. The new filler also has a foot wash for folks to use coming from the beach to the restrooms or their cars. The filler replaces a drinking fountain damaged in a run-in with a mower.