Attraction magazine has partnered with the National Park Service Chesapeake Bay Office and Chesapeake Conservancy to help readers find their next adventure. Each month, we’ll feature a new place from their helpful website, FindYourChesapeake.com. There, sign up for an e-newsletter, Trips and Tips, that delivers fresh ideas to your inbox each week.
Ready to try something new? At FindYourChesapeake.com also find expert advice on experiences like birdwatching, fishing, camping and hiking. Their team also developed content to help people explore the Chesapeake virtually so folks can stay safe at home during the pandemic. This month, the spotlight is on Mount Harmon Plantation in Earleville. Mount Harmon is a 200-acre historic plantation and nature preserve that sits on a peninsula bounded by Foreman, Back, and McGill creeks, which empty into the Sassafras River.
If you are looking to enjoy a beautiful day outdoors hiking, paddling, or birding, a Mount Harmon Day Pass will allow you to explore five miles of scenic nature trails, enjoy stunning waterfront views, and observe the wildlife that thrives in the nature preserve. A launch for canoes and kayaks is provided for paddling adventures on the water. Bring a lunch and enjoy nature from one of the many available picnic areas.
Through November, consider the Nature & History Golf Cart Tour or enjoy the Hay Wagon Ride & Nature Tour.
Visiting Mount Harmon is also a journey through the difficult history of a colonial-era tobacco plantation. As part of an ongoing effort to bring to life the full history of Mount Harmon, its “Altered Journeys” program seeks to illuminate the complex histories of those who lived and worked there. Mount Harmon is collaborating with historians to research and update the site’s interpretation to better include the history and stories of the enslaved and indentured people who lived and worked at the plantation during the 18th and early 19th centuries.
As part of the “Altered Journeys” program, replica slave quarters are featured on the Guided Walking Tour, helping to bring to life the stories of the enslaved people at Mount Harmon. One can also visit the serpentine-walled boxwood garden, the first floor of the historic Georgian manor house, the carriage house, a colonial kitchen, and the recreated smokehouse on this tour.
Mount Harmon is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit mountharmon.org for more information on the Mount Harmon Day Pass, Guided Walking Tour (available only by advanced reservation during the off season), and the seasonal hay wagon and golf cart tours.
There are also some great events coming up at Mount Harmon, including the Paper Chase Equestrian Trail Ride on November 8, and Green Sale and Marketplace on December 5 and 6.