BY JANE BLOODWORTH ROWE
SANDBRIDGE — If you’ve visited Back Bay Wildlife Refuge headquarters, you’re probably familiar with the trails that loop through the marshy freshwater interior or cross the high sand dunes to the ocean.
Now, the National Park Service, which seeks to promote outdoor recreational opportunities, has designated 2.7 miles of these trails as part of the National Recreation Trails system.
Refuge staff, volunteers and others gathered to celebrate the designation on Thursday, Nov. 17, with a ribbon-cutting and a tour of the trails at the refuge in southern Virginia Beach. These trails include the Reese F. Lukei Jr. Raptor Trail, the Charles Kuralt Trail, the Sunset Point Trail and the Dune and Seaside trails.
Refuge Manager Megan Reed, who officiated at the ceremony, thanked volunteers, including members of the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge Society, who maintain the trails. Reed also thanked Reese Lukei, a longtime volunteer who was the recipient of the Mary Reid Barrow Wildlife Advocate Award this year during the annual Winter Wildlife Festival.
“Reese, we are so grateful for you for everything you have done for this national wildlife refuge,” Reed said.
Speakers during the event included City Councilmember Barbara Henley, who represents District 2, and Michael Kirschman, director of parks and recreation for the city.
“To get the refuge to this point, there’s been a lot of work,” Henley said.
“I want to thank all of you for all of your work,” Henley added, addressing the partners and volunteers who support the refuge, “and look forward to doing plenty more.”
“We live in a very special city,” Kirschman said. “I don’t know too many cities out there that have the state park facilities that we have, over 290 local city of Virginia Beach parks, over 35 miles of beaches and a national wildlife refuge within the city.”
Lukei led a tour of the trail that bears his name following the ceremony.
The interior trails, which include boardwalks that extend out over the marsh, are a great place to observe wildlife, including songbirds. They are also a go-to spot to photograph native plants and, during the summer, you’ll see butterflies flitting around these plants.
The boardwalks afford a wide-angle view of the bay, and at sunset, this view is particularly stunning. As locals say, there’s nothing like a Back Bay sunset.
Still, it was also stunning at midday on this sunny, blustery day. The bay was choppy from the northwest wind, but its waters were also clear and sparkling in the bright sunshine.
While we walked, Lukei and park staff members spoke about the area’s ecosystem and the wildlife that inhabit it, and they also provided a little of the history of the trails.
The Dune Trail, which provides access to the ocean, opened in 1979, and during the 1980s, volunteers and park staff began to establish the interior loop. A recent application of crushed stone made the trails easier to navigate and, although it’s not completely accessible, it is possible for people with mobility problems to negotiate much of it.
In places, the trail’s lined with cypress knees from nearby trees, and wax myrtle bushes seem to be everywhere, growing in wet and dry areas.
These hardy natives are closely related to bayberry and, although some people tend to use the two terms interchangeably, wax myrtle is what you’re more likely to see on the Back Bay watershed, according to Erica Ryder, volunteer services specialist at the refuge.
That’s because wax myrtle, the southern cousin, grows in southern Virginia Beach, while bayberry, a more northern species, is found in northern Virginia Beach along the Chesapeake Bay.
“We’re just on the cusp,” Ryder said, “and we might have a few bayberries, but most of these are wax myrtle.
Wax myrtle, bayberry – I love it all. Its aromatic leaves smell just like bayberry candles and always make me think of Christmas. Those waxy berries, which are used to make candles, also provide food for birds.
The leaves also repel insects if you crush them and rub them on your skin, and the tenacious plant is good for soaking up water in poorly drained areas.
These trails remain open all year while the refuge’s four-mile access road to False Cape State Park is closed from Nov. 1 to March 31. The beach is also open all year, but if you don’t relish an eight-mile round-trip hike down the beach in winter, the interior trails are worthwhile.
It’s an easy hike that provides a fantastic view of the bay and, perhaps, a glimpse of migratory waterfowl and other wildlife – and it’s a good opportunity to get outside and shake off the winter doldrums.
The author is a contributor to The Independent News. Her journalism has also appeared in The Virginian-Pilot.
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