Virginia’s False Cape State Park, already known for its six miles of unspoiled white-sand beach, now has a new claim to fame. It is the nation’s newest stop on the Civil War Trails. And it may be one of the most remote Civil War Trails site in the nation, too.
False Cape, the southernmost Virginia State Park, is on a mile-wide barrier spit between Back Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, in southern Virginia Beach near the North Carolina border. It has over 15 miles of hiking and biking trails, which allow for views of the beaches and dunes, maritime forests, marshes, and the Bay. In fact, hiking, biking and boating are the only ways to access False Cape State Park, aside from a tram that runs from Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge to the Barbour Hill area and Wash Woods historic site in the park.
While all of the trails have beautiful views, one will take you to a significant site in Civil War history. If you hike nearly six miles from the parking lot, cross over a dune, go past the park’s primitive campground, and head towards the breaking surf, you’ll find the Maple Leaf Escape site.
During the Civil War, dozens of Confederate soldiers and officers who were being held prisoner made a break for it at this spot. According to the state park, the 70 Confederates were being transported as Prisoners of War on the USS Maple Leaf in 1863. They managed to escape, but found themselves isolated in a remote and sparsely populated area near the North Carolina border. Southern sympathizers helped them escape to the safety of North Carolina.
The Maple Leaf was shipwrecked in 1864 in the St. John’s River in Jacksonville, Florida when it hit a Confederate mine. This National Historic Landmark still sits in the middle of the St. John’s River 12 miles south of downtown Jacksonville.
While False Cape State Park always indicated the site of the Maple Leaf Escape on its trail maps, it is now officially part of the Civil War Trails, with an interpretive historical marker. Civil War Trails is a six-state tourism “program “trail” that marks more than 1,530 Civil War sites. There are 570 in Virginia alone, but this is the first in Virginia Beach.
“Now having a physical marker at the location enables us to preserve the Civil War history of False Cape and lets park guests explore, learn, and embrace the lessons of courage and unity from this daring account,” says Rachel Harrington, Chief Ranger of Visitor Experience at False Cape State Park.
Civil War Trails works together with local and state tourism offices to distribute hundreds of thousands of map guides leading people to the Civil War sites each year. To ensure people find their way to the remote (but historically accurate) Maple Leaf Escape site, the park and Civil War Trails, Inc. are working on a system of “directional trailblazers”.
Tourism leaders say sites like this help draw visitors during non-peak season. “Adding this site to our list of amenities will help drive travel to Sandbridge during the offseason,” says Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau strategist Alexander Smith.
If you want to find the historical site for yourself, you should park at 4005 Sandpiper Rd., Virginia Beach to begin your hike. For more information about visiting, call False Cape State Park at 757-426-7128. You can order a free Civil War Trails brochure at civilwartrails.org.
