Tucked in a bay leading right to the ocean, Newport News is a city in Virginia full of outdoor and indoor adventures.
This oceanside destination has dozens of parks, multiple museums, a historic village and much more. The moderate climate makes it perfect to explore year-round with camping, biking, canoeing, disc golf and more.
To start, your trip simply must include a stop at the Virginia Living Museum. Part zoo, part aquarium and part planetarium, this museum is special in more ways than one. Stroll the boardwalk along a wooded lake, view bobcats, otters, birds and native plants, then head inside for environments mimicking a steamy swamp, a cool mountain cave and the underwater world.
Then head down the street for The Mariners’ Museum and Park, 550 acres of woodlands for hiking and enjoying picturesque scenery like The Lions Bridge along the James River. After that, it’s off to the Historic Hilton Village, filled with unique architecture, an eclectic collection of locally owned shops, and several restaurants.
Next up, Huntington Park has swimming, boating, tennis and fishing, not to mention an amazing 13,000-square-foot adventure playground, Fort Fun. Plus, there’s the impressive Rose Garden with 45 different rose varieties. This is a great place to enjoy the sunset.
To see the second largest municipal park in the country, visit Newport News Park, with over 7,000 acres of hiking, biking, fishing, canoeing, disc golf, archery, camping and more — rental equipment is available for most of these.
For the bikers out there, Newport News has paved cycling trails at Newport News Park and Riverview Farm Park Trail, along with more mountainous trails at Harwood’s Mill Trail and Mariners’ Lake Natural Area.
Plus, your teens will love disc golf, with a championship 18-hole course at Newport News Park!
If all this outdoors talk isn’t your thing, the city also has a great itinerary for those interested in history, as well as tons of virtual classroom opportunities. And every two years, the Jefferson Lab offers an open house student tour, which this year is running March 25-27, 2022.
For more information on outdoor and indoor activities at Newport News, visit newport-news.org.
