Ferguson Wildlife Trail at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

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See the Hiking Trails page for a trail map.

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Length: .9 mile +.2 mile on the Sweeney Trail
Time: 45 minutes with time to read the trail brochure
Difficulty: Easy

The Ferguson Wildlife Trail at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park begins at the parking lot on Highway 24 just north of the Appomattox River. This is also Stop 3 on the Appomattox Court House Battlefield Tour. From the parking lot you can see a display of cannon with caissons (supply wagons). Known as Artillery Park, this is the location where the Confederates surrendered their artillery pieces on April 10, 1865. Walk to the cannons to begin the hike.

Cannons and caissons at Artillery Park, Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

Trail maps for Appomattox Court House National Historical Park are usually available at each trailhead, but just in case the brochure box is empty, you can also pick one up at the Visitor Center. Once on the trails, you don’t really need the map because they are very well marked. There is directional signage at every turn, even if there is only one possible way to go.

The Ferguson Wildlife Trail is a typical nature trail with numbered posts along the route that correspond to text on a printed brochure that describes the natural features of the area. This brochure should be in a box attached to the sign at the start of the trail. Hopefully the box is stocked when you visit, otherwise you will just be hiking a short loop around a meadow without learning anything.

The hike actually begins on the Sweeney Trail, but the intersection with the Ferguson Wildlife Trail is just 100 yards from the start. A directional sign marks the intersection (the trail brochure box is attached to this sign). You will also be within eyesight of the Sweeney Family cemetery, but the trail loops around and passes right by it, so catch it on way back.

Start of the Ferguson Wildlife Trail at the intersection with the Sweeney Trail, Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

While the Ferguson Wildlife Trail simply loops around the field, many of the numbered posts mark stops where you must hike a little ways into the forest. For example, Stop 2 is at the Appomattox River. A short distance into the woods is an observation area with a view of the river, which in this area is nothing more than a creek. The problem with most of these wooded nature stops is that the trees and other vegetation have grown up so much since the trail was created that you can’t see anything today.

Stop 2 on the Ferguson Wildlife Trail at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

Largely obscured view of the Appomattox River from the Ferguson Wildlife Trail at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

There’s not much to the Ferguson Wildlife Trail. Just follow the mowed path around the meadow. It’s a gradual uphill climb all the way to the far end of the loop and downhill on the way back. However, any hills are so slight that you won’t notice them. I wouldn’t call the hike easy in the sense that it is wheelchair accessible, so perhaps one notch up from easy is the best way to describe its difficulty. Furthermore, the entire hike is out in the open, so wear a hat and apply sunscreen if avoiding the sun is important to you.

Typical terrain on the Ferguson Wildlife Trail at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

The Ferguson Wildlife Trail at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park circles a meadow

The last stop on the hike is #7, and there is a bucket attached to the post so you can deposit your trail brochure if you don’t want it. If you saw any wildlife and you have something to write with, there is a space at the bottom of the brochure to record what you saw.

Last stop on the Ferguson Wildlife Trail at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

The Ferguson Wildlife Trail technically ends .9 mile into the hike at the northern intersection with the Sweeney Trail. You can choose to hike back to the parking lot on the Sweeney Trail or, for a longer hike, add it to your itinerary. The Sweeney Trail runs north for .8 mile to Horseshoe Road. You can then loop back on the Conner-Sweeney Cabin Trail, which also starts at Horseshe Road. Total distance for all three trails is about 2.5 miles. If you just plan on returning to the Appomattox River parking lot, take a right at the intersection.

Northern intersection of the Ferguson Wildlife Trail and the Sweeney Trail at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

You’ll be back to where the Ferguson Wildlife Trail began in less than a tenth of a mile, but before getting there you will come to the Sweeney Family Cemetery. This is where Joel Sweeney is buried. Sweeney, who was born and raised in Appomattox County, is the man who made the banjo popular in the 1830s and 40s. In fact, he was one of the most popular musicians in America at the time, and he even toured Europe.

The banjo is an instrument that came to America by way of the African slaves, and while black banjo players were some of the best, there certainly was no opportunity for them to tour the country as musicians. Thus, it was the white musicians such as Sweeney who copied their style and made the music popular in minstrel shows. These shows mixed music (banjo, fiddle, hand drums), dance, and comedy, and the songs from this era became the first to reach nationwide popularity.

Being that banjo music was associated with black people, to add to the authenticity of the show, white musicians began performing as black musicians by coloring their faces, what would go on to be known as blackface. At first blackface was nothing more than a way to make the shows authentic, no different than if a white Michael Jackson fan decided to put on a Jackson tribute concert. He’d don the single white glove, put on a wig, and darken (or perhaps lighten) his skin so that he looked like Michael Jackson. Once comedy worked its way into the shows, the acts included race-degrading jokes and mannerisms (likewise, the Michael Jackson impersonator might eventfully ad pedophile jokes). In fact, black musicians abandoned the banjo after the Civil War, for a black man with a banjo had become as humiliating a stereotype as a black man with a watermelon or a chicken.

Grave of Joel Sweeney at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

Tombstone in the Sweeney Family Cemetery at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

From the cemetery it is another tenth of a mile back to the parking lot. Just follow the signs to Artillery Park. The total distance of the hike is 1.1 mile, with the Ferguson Wildlife Trail making up .9 mile of it. The hike took me about 45 minutes, which gave me time to read the information that goes along with each tour stop. The trail doesn’t pass any historical features (the cemetery is actually on the Sweeney Trail), so if you are short on time and history is what you are after, skip it and hike the Sweeney Trail / Conner-Sweeney Cabin Trail, for these pass a number of historical features. And for the record, I saw no wildlife, not even a bird.

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