Chickahominy Riverfront Park in Williamsburg, Virginia

Just a few miles from Jamestown, Chickahominy Riverfront Park sits at the edge of a tidal river that has changed remarkably little since English colonists first explored it in 1607. Bald cypress trees rise from dark water, great blue herons stalk the shallows, and marshes stretch into the distance. Remove the occasional fishing boat, and the view is not so different from what the Powhatan people would have recognized more than four centuries ago. The Chickahominy occupies a rare place in the Chesapeake watershed. Unlike many rivers that have been heavily developed, much of its tidal corrido...