Paved Black Duck Trail in Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge

Virginia Hiking Trails main page

Length: 1.8 round trip
Time: 45 minutes (walk), 20 minutes (bike)
Difficulty: Easy

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The Black Duck Trail is a paved path that mainly serves the purpose of connecting hikers and bikers to the Wildlife Loop Road from Beach Road in Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. It is exposed to the sun for its entire length. I would not want to hike this trail in the summer, particularly since the only reason to take the trail in the first place is to get to the Wildlife Loop Road, another exposed slab of pavement that I would not want to hike in the summer. If the Wildlife Loop Road is your goal and you don’t have a bike, wait until after 3 PM when you can drive a vehicle on the road. Unless it is really cool outside, hiking on any of the exposed asphalt paths gets brutally hot.

For those on foot, much of the Black Duck Trail does run along the marsh, and this is the quickest way to see the birds that inhabit the area for those departing from Toms Cove Visitor Center or the parking area at the trailhead for the Woodland Trail. It’s a good hike from either departure point, and once again you will be exposed to the sun while walking on asphalt.