Shore Lines a Virginia Beach Blog

A walk through the pine-scented air at Bayville Farms Park conclusively demonstrates why the Arbor Day Foundation has named Virginia Beach a “Tree City USA” since 1980. Although a portion of the park’s 68 acres are open fields, a significant amount of the park is populated by evergreen and deciduous trees. I’m talking huge trees. Giant pines, elderly hardwoods, and flowering crape myrtles. Nestled beneath the trees are the kinds of old-school amenities that people traditionally go to parks to enjoy: horseshoe pits, picnic shelters with grills, children’s playgrounds, and solitary benches where visitors can spend time in quiet reflection. In fact, there’s something for everyone: tennis, shuffleboard, basketball, badminton, corn hole, softball and volleyball. There’s a TRX Suspension Frame, an outdoor fitness system that provides resistance training using straps and the weight of your own body. There’s even a fishing pond. If you’re not in the habit of participating in these sports but want to give them a try, a variety of equipment can be rented from the park office.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Worth a visit, whether you participate or just watch — is the park’s disc golf course, one of only two in Virginia Beach. The course has twenty “holes” – baskets elevated on poles – and is a par 60. The wooded terrain provides lots of natural obstacles, one of the desired features of a disc golf course. The park’s shaded, multi-use trails wander among the trees and are popular with walkers, runners, skateboarders, and dog walkers. I spent a little more than an hour and thoroughly explored the park while logging four miles on my pedometer. The trail that runs through the park connects with a multi-use path along Shore Drive, so a longer walk is possible if desired. The last time I visited Bayville Farms Park was for a fundraiser picnic many years ago. Today, the park is just as appealing, and with the approach of fall, the park’s trees will begin their annual color festival. Obviously well loved and well used, Bayville Farms Park merits a visit.

Tags: Bayville Farms Park, disc golf, free things to do in Virginia Beach, fun with the kids, open space in Virginia Beach, Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation