Lower James River Expedition 2025

Follow along on the Lower James River Expedition, part of session 1 of the James River Leadership Expeditions program! 

Today we started our Lower James Expedition by traveling several miles by motorboat from the fall line in Richmond to Lawrence Lewis Jr. Park.  Our journey included a stop to trawl for fish, where we found several different species, including the White Catfish (the only native Catfish to the James).  We made use of our time at camp by preparing a spaghetti dinner and bonding with other members through card games and other activities.  Additionally, members of our group took water samples from the river to test water quality.  Tomorrow will be our first day canoeing and everyone is tired but excited!

By:  Bella Ashe and Mazie Wiseman

We started our day early at 6 before getting on the water around 8. We began with a few lessons on how to paddle before putting our canoes in the water. The day turned out to be a hot and long 9 miles. On the way, we got to see lots of different kinds of wildlife such as bald eagles, heron, osprey, cormorants, gar, and even a few sturgeon. While on the water, we were lucky enough to watch an eagle and osprey battle over a fish. One of the coolest moments from the trip was paddling through a freshwater marsh full of huge bald cyprus. At around 2pm we arrived at Fort Pocahontas, which has a rich history dating back to the founding of our country. After setting up camp, everyone jumped in the water to swim and cool off. We had tacos for dinner (Taco 🌮🌮🌮 TUESDAY). Today was a great start to our expedition as we look forward to learning about and experiencing the James River.

By Jack Porter and Madeline Yarzebinski

Again, we started our day at 6 am and got on the water a little after 8. We had an 11 mile paddle ahead of us but everyone was ready and excited to put in the work. At several times along the way we stopped to swim including a shady creek, a sandbar and a sandy beach area. We saw a lot of the same animals as yesterday but ended up seeing a lot of cool things like an abandoned ship, full catfish skeleton, and some fancy river houses! While paddling, we entertained ourselves by solving Gabe’s many riddles and questions. Around 2 pm we arrived at Chickahomney —- park, set up camp and went swimming. At first we decided to float with the current around the short bend to the boat ramp but quickly realized that the current would only carry us ¼ of the way around. So, we had to swim all the way to the boat ramp turning a 5 minute dip in the water into an hour and a half long swimming journey. We still had so much fun spending time together though! During dinner prep, some of us played a very spirited game of beach volleyball. For dinner we had hotgdogs/hamburgers with corn, watermelon, salad and more. After, we had our evening meeting on the beach watching the sunset while playing games and looking at the beautiful pink sky. While some enjoyed s’mores, others took some much needed showers. Overall, it was a great day with amazing people and we can’t wait for tomorrow!

By Stella Griffin and Ashley Jones

A big thank you to our many partners, including support from the Luck Companies Foundation and AES Corporation, which made this program possible. Together, we are inspiring the next generation of river stewards across our watershed!