Story and photos by Jim Wyman, District II Business Manager
Nor’easters no more! If you haven’t been to Westmoreland State Park along the Potomac River in a while or have never visited, you are in for a few surprises this year! We have two major projects underway that will improve and change the landscape at Westmoreland.
The first project is a waterfront restoration project due to be completed in March depending on the weather. As you may know, Westmoreland is known for suffering at the hands of hurricanes and nor’easters. I have been here for three years and have seen time consuming and costly damage to the Park every year from these storms. The project is designed to protect the beautiful and scenic cliffs as well as the multi-purpose day use areas of the Park. It involves installing several rock breakwaters at intervals along the shoreline as well as rock rip rap along the bulkhead areas near the Potomac River Retreat and Osprey Boathouse and Camp Store. The project should not have a major impact on our current operations. The rock will create an interesting change to the landscape and hopefully protect us from future storms. Ironically, the project got under way in early November just about the time we had a nor’easter come through damaging the waterfront walkways and bulkhead yet again.
The second project is the construction of a new visitor center located on a bluff 200 feet above the Potomac with awesome panoramic views of the area. Construction should be completed in April. The building will be very modern, while maintaining historical and environmentally friendly architectural designs. The visitor center will house the current park office staff as well as the district office staff consolidating them under one roof to better serve the public. It will also eventually feature an education center, exhibits, gift shop and public accessible restrooms year round. There will be plenty of parking for cabin guests, RV’s, and other campers while they check-in and become oriented to the Park.
Whether you come to Westmoreland every year or have never been, put the Park on your list of places to visit or stay this year! Westmoreland- “The place to be again and again in 2010." Make your camping and cabin reservations now by calling our Reservation and Information line at 800-933-7275 (Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Or, reserve on line any time by clicking here.
For those of you that grew up camping, do you remember how good food tasted cooked outside over a campfire? Wasn’t it the best? My family spent many seasons camping at Virginia State Parks. I can still taste the peanut butter toast my father made. He would toast the bread over an open flame on a long fork turning it over until it was crisp and brown. It was so good! Just time spent with family was so much fun. Waking up to the birds singing and the sun rise over the water was incredible. Memories like that last forever. I will never forget those wonder filled days spent swimming, hiking, canoeing and wildlife watching. No television (and in those days no cell phones) just magical times created by the magnificent surroundings and our imagination. 
To make your experience even more memorable, the park offers seasonal swimming and paddling. There are a variety of things to do through the year. Hiking, geocaching, orienteering, biking, fishing, birding and wildlife watching. The park also offers exceptional educational programming year round. So grab your family and get outside and play! 
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