Discover Buckingham County

Buckingham County brings together river landscapes, hiking areas, and historic sites. If you’re planning time outdoors, you’ll find multi-use trails, opportunities for wildlife viewing, and paths through diverse habitats. If you’re interested in history, you’ll encounter a courthouse completed in 1822, former educational institutions, and homes from different eras. This variety gives you different ways to plan your trip.

Trails, Rivers, and Habitats

James River State Park offers 22 miles of multi-use trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding. The trails bring several activities together in one network, so you can plan your outing around your preferred way of getting around rather than assuming it’s for just one use.

Featherfin Wildlife Management Area covers nearly 3,084 acres across Buckingham, Appomattox, and Prince Edward counties. Along the Appomattox River, the area has ten miles of river frontage. Numerous trails run through it and are suitable for hiking and wildlife viewing. At Featherfin, the river landscape, wildlife watching, and trails are all key features.

Getting around here differs from a typical visit by road: the area is used primarily on foot and has no motorized access. Parking is available along state-maintained roads that pass through or border it; permits may be required. Keep these conditions in mind when planning your visit.

Horsepen Lake is also part of the county’s natural setting: the 19-acre lake is in Buckingham County within Horsepen Wildlife Management Area. At Holliday Lake State Park, trails wind through varied habitats with abundant wildlife. Together, these places offer different highlights: multi-use trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding at James River; trails and wildlife viewing at Featherfin; and hikes through diverse habitats at Holliday Lake.

Historic Places and Their Stories

The Buckingham Court House Historic District retains its 19th-century character, with few modern alterations. It includes a temple-form courthouse with a portico, completed in 1822. Thomas Jefferson drew up the plans at the county’s request. Its architectural style, construction date, and preserved character offer several points of historical interest.

The Buckingham Female Collegiate Institute Historic District preserves the surviving buildings of Virginia’s first state-chartered women’s college. The school opened in 1838 and operated until 1863. The surviving buildings are now private homes—a useful detail to know when learning about the institute’s history.

The site of the Buckingham Training School is now Stephen J. Ellis Memorial Park. It is directly connected to local African Americans’ efforts to gain access to education during segregation. Here, local history and the history of access to education intersect.

The Seven Islands Archaeological and Historic District lies near the confluence of the James and Slate rivers, in Buckingham and Fluvanna counties. Its components date to both prehistoric and historic periods. This offers a different perspective on the past from the 19th-century buildings in the Buckingham Court House Historic District.

Other historic homes differ in date and architectural style. Locust Grove was Peter Francisco’s home from 1794 until the mid-1820s and was restored by the Society of the Descendants of Peter Francisco. Woodside was completed in 1860 on the southern edge of Buckingham’s courthouse district and is a Greek Revival-style house. Chellowe, a three-part Palladian house in Buckingham County, was begun around 1820 and completed around 1840. These dates show how far apart the homes’ construction histories are.

Market and Seasonal Train Rides

Spring Hollow Farm Market in Buckingham County offers fresh local produce, Amish baked goods, and daily lunch specials. Because the selection may change and the lunch offerings vary daily, it’s worth checking the latest information before your visit.

Buckingham Branch Railroad was founded in Buckingham County. Its train crews operate spring and fall excursion trains, as well as Santa Trains, in Dillwyn. Schedules are seasonal, so check the dates if you’d like to include a train ride in your trip plans.

Plan Your Stay Around Your Interests

When looking for a hotel in Buckingham County, you can start by deciding whether nature trails and wildlife viewing or historic places will be the focus of your trip. This lets you shape your stay around the experiences that interest you most, without combining different activities into a single outing.

Discover more destinations: Dillwyn, Winchester, Lynchburg, Salem, Albemarle, Greene County, Colonial Heights, Nottoway County.

For the broader travel overview: Virginia.