Open fires are prohibited throughout the park from midnight to 4 p.m. through April 30 per the 4 p.m. Burning Law. This includes wood and charcoal. Gas is permissible. Campground fires are allowed during the restricted time if a camp host is on duty and signage to that effect is posted in the campground. Failure to observe the 4 p.m. Burning Law can result in a fine. Contact the Park Office for additional information.

Read Our Blogs

 

For many of us, the fall season means going back to school, raking leaves, and watching football on Sunday afternoons. But long ago, farmers had a different and more important fall ritual: the harvest.

On Saturday October 17, 2015, from 11:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m., Chippokes State Park will host a recently begun ritual of its own, the 2nd Annual Harvest Festival.

Whether you need to keep those pesky crows out of your garden or your a Wizard of Oz fan, make a scarecrow to take home - Chippokes State Park Harvest FestivalThe Harvest Festival is a free event organized by the Friends of Chippokes.

Attendees can paint pumpkins, make their own scarecrows and corn husk dolls, as well as many other autumn activities. A blacksmith demo, hearth cooking, old harvesting machines, and other living history exhibits will show people what farmers in the past did during the fall season. The final act of the day will be “Voices from the Past,” a telling of the Chippokes story by some ghostly people who long ago made the park what it is today.

In addition to the Harvest Festival, Chippokes will commemorate Virginia State Parks History and Culture Day on October 3, 2015 with “Walnut Valley Wagon Tour,” the first public tour of the park’s Walnut Valley property, and “Monarchs on the Move w/Joni Carlson,” hosted by a citizen scientist on a mission to save our Monarch butterflies.

Head on out to the Chippokes Harvest Festival, partake in some fall festivities, and celebrate the reds, yellows, and browns of October!

Unleash your inner artist with some pumpkin painting at Chippokes State Park Harvest FestivalUnleash your inner artist with some pumpkin painting

Chippokes State Park is located at 695 Chippokes Park Rd., Surry, VA 23883 (Google map here). 

For more information you can reach the park by calling (757) 294-3728 or email here.

Written by Matt Knight, Education Support Specialist at Chippokes State Park

PARKS
CATEGORIES
SHARE THIS PAGE

If you have read the article and have a question, please email nancy.heltman@dcr.virginia.gov.

COMMENTS

Lou (October 29, 2015 07:40:11 AM): I'm disappointed as several of us were planning to come to the Fall Festival. We came a few years ago on the weekend closest to Halloween. At the close of the festival, a group of us were invited to gather for a Halloween tour which really added to the excitement! We're so sorry that we missed it! Your organizers may seriously want to think about another Halloween tour!

Virginia State Parks (October 08, 2015 07:12:29 AM): Just the regular per car parking fee of $5 per car.

CHERYL RAKO (October 01, 2015 03:18:57 PM): WHAT'S THE FEE FOR THE HEART OF AUTUMN FESTIVAL?

By Park