Miles of walking trails through Newport News Park take you through an 8,000-acre forest with a variety of plant and animal life. Individual trail lengths vary from half a mile to the five-mile biking/hiking trail, but all the trails are interconnected. A wooden bridge crosses the Lee Hall Reservoir from one of several picnic areas, linking to the trail system. Other access points to the trail system include the ranger station and campgrounds. You can follow the trails in Newport News Park to George Washington’s encampment as he prepared for the Battle of Yorktown and, from there, continue into the Yorktown Battlefield National Park.

The Noland Trail is the City’s other major hiking trail. Located in mid-City in the Mariners’ Museum Park, this five-mile walking trail circles Lake Maury, crossing its inlets on fourteen wooden bridges. The gentle topography of this trail through the woods and water provides good exercise and a chance to commune with nature. Views of Lake Maury are spectacular and refreshing. There are benches placed at frequent intervals for rest and relaxation and there is a shorter leg of the trail that is only about a mile and a half long.