Hike through history: Cold Harbor Battlefield offers several trails along with open space for exploring!

We absolutely loved visiting Cold Harbor Battlefield! This historic land is where the Confederate and Union soldiers fought a historic battle during the Civil War. History buffs will love the signage throughout the park and the Visitor's Center, which provides ample background information and relics. Further, opportunities for questions and answers are available as the park ranger is friendly and happy to educate all park patrons.

We focused on the grounds during our trip, where there is much to learn and see. As you hike, you walk directly where troops walked during this historic time. The signs throughout the hike provided lots of background information. It is pretty surreal that the actual Civil War trenches are so close to where we walked!

We followed the white trail, which begins behind the visitor's center. Also behind the visitor's center is a large field, which would be ideal for kite-flying, playing frisbee, or soccer. The white trail eventually has an extended loop option, which we did not take. Instead, we continued and finally crossed the paved road to the blue trail. This makes a large loop and ends up back at the visitor's center parking lot. It is about 1.5 miles total.

This hike is popular for dogs, so bring Fido along! The bathrooms are in the visitor's center. Parking is easy and convenient, directly beside the visitor's center. After hiking, consider grabbing a treat five minutes away at 360 Donuts. A quaint, family-owned donut shop with an eclectic assortment of donut flavors, coffee, and ice cream sandwiches!