This island has aspects of much that is good about
Richmond. Oodles of history, lots of great views of a
relatively undeveloped river, rapids, rock climbing and
geocaching!
To park, we would suggest taking 5th Street downtown until it
dead ends, turning right and parking just past the Tredegar Iron
Works. From there, you can take the pedestrian footbridge hanging
under the busy Lee Bridge. When the water is low, it is possible to
hop across the rocks from the south side. If the water is higher,
that approach is a bit hazardous, so we'd suggest that you stick
with the footbridge
Once
you cross the footbridge (or from the bridge itself), the
views of the city are spectactular. They are so impressive
that some people sell them.
As you cross the bridge, the flat area ahead of you was once a
horse racing track and rough and rowdy gambling location run by
James Bell. This gave the island the name of "Bell's Island". It is
said that the good laidies wanted to restore its reputation once he
left and renamed it "Belle Isle" in the French fashion. You'll also
see the ruins of the Old Dominion Iron and Steel company on your
left. The piers in the water are the remnants of an old car bridge
that was destroyed by the mighty Hurricane Camille in 1969.
Perhaps the most famous use of Belle Isle was a Civil War
Prison. It held as many as eight thousand prisoners at one
time in a series of tents over about three acres of flat land.
The entire site was about six of seven acres, but the tents
were seperated by a large ditch with a four foot bank. This
was known as the dead line and men who attempted to cross it
would be
shot. As many as twenty thousand or more may have been held at
one time or another. Although this prison is said to have had very
high mortality rates and was considered an abomination in the
North, Southern
sources have always painted a different picture. Nothing
remains of the prison today.
This site also has some interesting information including a
war-time photo and a map of the island.
We'd suggest that you follow the path to N 37° 31.768 W 77°
27.348, where you will find an excellent spot to watch the famous
Hollywood Rapids, a marvel of urban whitewater. When conditions are
right these are Class IV or V rapids and the action happens right
in front of you. Many locals bring a picnic lunch and sit on the
rocks.
You'll also see evidence of an old quarry. Next to the pond,
rock climbers sometimes scale the rough-hewn walls. When droughts
hit, you can sometimes see the old quarry railcar at the bottom of
the pond.
Continue to the end of the island and you'll see the
hole that Hurricane Camille blasted in the Belle Isle Dam.
That has created what is known as First Break Rapids. You'll
often see kayaks facing backwards remaining motionless in the
water created by the backflow of this break. Sometimes you may
even see them upside down! They call that surfing, and it is
also seen along First Approach and Hollywood Rapids.
From here is the safest place to make your ascent and begin the
search in earnest. There are other paths, but we think you'll like
this approach. Pretty much zero bushwacking is required. The cache
itself is perhaps 10 feet from a path, once you find the right
one.
The path around the island is very heavily used by joggers and
lovers and everyone else, but the area around the cache is fairly
remote. We hope it will avoid the plundering that befell the
previous cache on the island. The path we describe does sometimes
get a bit rough after floods -- if that is the case, you can
approach the cache from the south side of the path by the old
electric power plant.
Original cache contents (as best we remember) include:
- Zipper Pull Thermometer/Compass
- Carabiner Compass
- Combination Whistle/Compass/Magnifying Glass/Thermometer
- Pin-on compass
- Crayola colored pencils
- Geocaching.com Compass keychain
- Silly Putty
- Emergency Blanket
- Small First-aid kit