Tobacco Prizery Nature 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:  1.3-mile loop
Time:  1 hour
Difficulty: Between easy and moderate (there are a few steep hills)

The Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park is located on Highway 24 at the Lee’s Headquarters stop on the Appomattox Court House Battlefield Tour. It is a lollypop-shaped trail, meaning that you hike out on the stick portion before coming to the loop. As far as nature trails go, it’s one of the better ones.

The Lee’s Headquarters parking lot is also where the Lee’s Headquarters Trail starts, so be sure you get on the right one. Signs identify both trails. The Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail starts off by following along a fence before heading into the forest on a wide, gravel path, possibly a former dirt road.

Start of the Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

Within eyesight of the parking lot is an intersection with the Lee’s Headquarters Trail. If you really want to see the spot where Confederate general Robert E. Lee made his headquarters on the night of April 8, 1865, start the hike at the parking lot, not here. Continue straight ahead to remain on the Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail.

Intersection of the Lee’s Headquarters Trail and the Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

Typical nature trails have stops along the way where you can read information about plants and animals that live and grow in the area. Unlike the Ferguson Wildlife Trail on the other side of Highway 24, which has a printed brochure to go along with it, the information for the Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail is posted on signage along the path. The theme of the trail is how the land has changed since the Civil War.

There are also sign posts that identifying 45 different trees. What sets the Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail apart from other nature trails is that the trees being identified are marked with red paint splotches. I’ve been on many nature trails where the vegetation has grown up so much since the signs were posted that there is no way to know what they are referring to.

Signs along the Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail identify trees in the area, Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

The loop portion of the trail begins a quarter mile from the parking lot. I don’t know if it really matters which way you go around, but a sign prior to the start of the loop directs hikers to turn right at the intersection, which sets you off hiking in the counterclockwise direction. This is what I did, and this report is written from that perspective.

Start of the loop portion of the Tobacco Prizery Trail at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

The western half of the Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail passes through the forest. It is no longer an old road, but it is still fairly wide as far as hiking trails go. Signs along the path point out that during the Civil War this was mainly farmland with only a few patches of trees here and there. Farmers at that time did not know that rotating crops would replenish the soil’s nutrients, and by the end of the 1920s the crop yield had declined so much that everyone left the area. Sun-loving Virginia pines were the first trees to take up root in the abandoned fields. Once these trees grew tall and blocked the sun from reaching the ground, no more pine trees grew to replace the ones the fell or died. Hardwoods, on the other hand, don’t need as much sun, and they soon began growing below the pines, and by the 1990s they had taken over. Today you’ll see many oaks, maples, and yellow poplars in the forests at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park.

Typical terrain on the northwestern side of the Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail loop, Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

The Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail’s southernmost point is near the Appomattox River, and since rivers tend to be at the lowest point on the terrain, it’s usually a downhill hike to get to one. In fact, the trail at the parking lot is approximately 140 feet higher than the trail at the river. There are a couple of moderately steep sections, but steps have been built into the trail to make the descent a little easier. Also, the farther south you go, the narrower the trail becomes and the more roots that start popping up, creating a tripping hazard. At the northern end, the trail surface is rather smooth.

Typical terrain on the southwestern side of the Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail loop, Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

At .6 mile into the hike, the trail emerges from the forest and becomes a mowed grass path that follows the tree line around a field. It darts into the woods briefly in a few spots, but most of the trail is out in the open.

Meadow at the southern end of the Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

The Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail runs through a meadow at its southern end, Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

The Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail intersects with the Southside Connector Trail at the .7 mile mark. This is an out-and-back trail that connects to the southern end of the park. The intersection is at the southernmost point on the Nature Trail, so you are now starting the hike back north on the east side of the loop. If you want to see the Appomattox River, hike 200 feet down the Southside Connector Trail. (Note that the directional sign states that Lee’s HQ Parking Lot is .4 mile back the way you just came. That is unequivocally not true.)

Intersection of the Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail and the Southside Connector Trail at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail at the intersection with the Southside Connector Trail, Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

The Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail now heads uphill as it leaves the Appomattox River behind, and some segments are moderate in difficulty.

Typical terrain on the southeastern section of the Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

A little over a tenth of a mile from the Southside Connector is the Sweeney Prizery. A prizery is a building where tobacco is packed into barrels for shipping. Alexander Sweeney built this in the 1790s, making it one of the oldest buildings in Appomattox Court House National Historical Park.

The Sweeney Prizery, the oldest building within Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

The trail continues through the meadow for another .2 mile before re-entering the forest (1 mile into the hike). This section is a mature hardwood forest, meaning that it was one of the lots that wasn’t plowed under for farmland in the 1800s. The farmers did cut trees from this forest for building materials and firewood.

Forested section on the northeast end of the Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

From the edge of the forest, the Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail continues north for a few hundred feet before curving west towards the parking lot. It once again becomes an old dirt road, or at least wide and smooth enough to have been one. When you get back to where the loop starts, keep straight. You are now back on the stick portion of the trail, a quarter mile from the parking lot.

Tobacco Prizery Nature Trail at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park

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