Native American Heritage Trail offers pathway to explore King George County (2024)

King George County’s Native American Heritage Trail is now open to visitors. The trail leads visitors on a meandering route around the county between seven informational signs highlighting the culture and history of Rappahannock and Patawomeck tribes whose roots in the region go back thousands of years.

The trail brings travelers to Fairview Beach, where they will learn the Potomac creation story, the only Algonquin creation story in Virginia recorded by the English. The trail goes to Belle Grove Plantation on the banks of the Rappahannock where they will see how the tribe of the same name built villages on both sides of the river. At the Dahlgren Heritage Museum, which has a view of the Potomac, visitors learn about the waterman and fishing traditions of the Patawomeck tribe.

The trail also offers 10 geocache puzzles along its path. Geocaches are hidden containers that can be located using a phone or other GPS device. A scavenger hunt geared toward young children is included in the brochure.

The heritage trail was conceived by Nick Minor, the former director of economic development and tourism for the county, and developed by a group of University of Mary Washington students in the historical preservation department under former professor Lauren McMillan. The students consulted with tribal leaders from the Rappahannock and Patawomeck nations in every step of the project.

The trail serves two purposes. It will educate visitors on Indigenous people’s history in the region and bring more visitors to less visited parts of King George County.

McMillan spoke to both these goals.

“A lot of people don’t know much about the Indigenous history of this region, which is so complex and rich and deep,” she said.

McMillan also mentioned the benefits to tourism in the county.

“It’s a good way to get people out to King George,” she said. “Most people just drive through on Route 3, maybe they stop in Dahlgren. They miss out, because there is so much history and beautiful scenery just off Route 3.”

McMillan said that her students did everything to develop the heritage trail. The initial idea of a driving tour came from Minor, who gave a list of locations he wanted included along the path. Students designed the signs, wrote informational text, and created the maps. Part of their assignment was creating a marketing plan. Out of this requirement, the geocache and scavenger hunt components of the trail were developed.

Early in the process the students met with Patawomeck and Rappahannock tribal leaders, who gave guidance on what stories and topics they found important. Particularly, tribal leaders wanted the heritage trail to highlight the presence of Native American communities in King George County in the present day, rather than solely focusing on ancient history and the colonial era.

“I’m an archaeologist; I study history. It’s easy to want to sit in the deep past, but the tribes wanted us to go up until the present,” McMillan said.

Tribal leaders also reviewed the sign designs and made suggestions regarding the words and pictures used. Brad Hatch, who sits on the tribal council for the Patawomeck tribe, said he was happy with how Indigenous people were involved to direct the telling of their story in the heritage trail.

“I think it shows … a more inclusive approach to Indigenous history and adds more voices into the history of the region,” he said.

Hatch said the heritage trail is the first of its kind to focus on Indigenous history in the area, and maybe the commonwealth.

“I can’t think of any other [Native American heritage trails in Virginia]. I think it’s kind of groundbreaking in that way.”

Hatch said he hoped it would inspire similar projects in other regions of the state.

The Rappahannock Indian Tribe could not be reached for comment.