Just 20 miles from downtown
Richmond, the capital of Virginia, Pocahontas State Park has been one of the more popular parks in the state park system. Swift Creek forms the nucleus of the park, which is centered in a wildlife management area.
Pool swimming, boating, bicycling, and individual and group camping are available. The park's Algonquian Ecology Camp is available to groups for day and overnight use. Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), this was the first recreational park in the Richmond-Petersburg-Hopewell area. The National Park Service donated the facility to Virginia State Parks in 1946.
The park is named after Pocahontas, the famed daughter of Chief Powhatan, who was ruler over the tribes in the Powhatan Confederacy of the Algonquin Nation. Legend has it that Pocahontas saved Captain John Smith’s life when he was held captive by the Powhatan Confederacy. She later married John Rolfe and traveled with him to London where she died of smallpox.
