Yorktown, Virginia – with its accessible beach and riverside path, quaint, walkable downtown, and claim to one of the United States’ most significant historical events – is a perfectly travable™ small town with tons to do for a day or two … but not the way Jarrod and I did it.
When looking at a map, this place seems like a piece of cake. Who wouldn’t want to take a stroll along the banks of the James River in the very same colonial town that ended the American Revolution (with a little help from the French)?
From a birdseye map view, you’ll notice the American Revolution Museum, a beach, a battlefield, and attractions throughout all connected by a walking trail about a mile long.
Assuming this would be an easy half-day trip, however, was going a bit too far.
While everything is worth seeing and the trail itself mostly paved, it’s hilly and difficult to walk or push a wheelchair from the “downtown” to the museum. And while the trail seems to go all the way to the battlefield and there are connectors to the main visitor center, the path isn’t as travable™ as it seems as the paths are not wheelchair-friendly.
So, while Yorktown is amazingly travable™, it’s important to take these steps to make it that way:
- DRIVE SEPARATELY to the American Revolution Museum and Yorktown Battlefield Visitor Center
- The museum and battlefield are too far apart and the battlefield is actually set up to be a driving tour that takes you from site to site. Be sure to download the Yorktown Guide App that’ll give you an audio tour when you arrive to each marker. The museum does have a cost but the battlefield is no charge for people with accessible needs and up to four of their guests.
- PARK DOWNTOWN to enjoy the riverside shops, restaurants, beach and fishing pier. There’s ample accessible parking in the heart of downtown and the beach even has an accessible walkway that goes onto the sand.
Your whole trip will take about a day but in order to get ample beach and history time in, you might want to take the weekend and focus one day on history and part of the next day to enjoy the sun and sand.