Beach · Colonial Beach
Town Beach & Boardwalk
Sandy beach along the Potomac with the boardwalk, Town Hill and the festival grounds. Sunset walks, swimming in summer, and fireworks over the river during the Potomac River Festival.
Next door
The Northern Neck
The peninsula between the Potomac and the Rappahannock: farmland, river towns, presidents' birthplaces and a whole lot of shoreline, with Colonial Beach right at its doorstep.
Virginia's Northern Neck
Slow roads, big water, deep roots
The Northern Neck runs from King George County down to the Chesapeake Bay, through Westmoreland, Northumberland, Lancaster and Richmond counties. It's a place of working waterfronts and small towns, where Sunday drives end at a winery or a crab shack, and where living near the water doesn't mean living in a crowd.
Where America began
Birthplace of presidents
George Washington was born at Popes Creek in 1732, James Monroe a few miles from Colonial Beach, and James Madison in neighboring King George County. Stratford Hall, the Lee family's great brick house from the 1730s, stands on the bluffs nearby. On a Saturday you can walk through three centuries of history and still be home for dinner.
Outdoors
Cliffs, fossils and eagles
At Westmoreland State Park, Horsehead Cliffs rise straight out of the Potomac and Fossil Beach gives up shark teeth to anyone with a sifter and some patience. Upriver, Caledon State Park's old forest is famous for the bald eagles that gather there in summer. In between: trails, quiet creeks and miles of shoreline.
Wine & river towns
Down the Neck to the Bay
Follow Route 3 toward the Chesapeake Bay and the Northern Neck opens up: vineyards on the Chesapeake Bay Wine Trail, the county seat of Montross, the Victorian homes of Reedville's Millionaire's Row, and the marinas and shops of Irvington and Kilmarnock where the Rappahannock meets the Bay.
Map
Favorite stops around the Neck
From Colonial Beach, most of these are an easy day trip, and some are a quick drive for dinner.
Water · Colonial Beach
Colonial Beach Municipal Pier
The town’s fishing pier, reaching out into the Potomac. NOAA’s Colonial Beach tide gauge is mounted here, the same one behind the tide card on this page.
Water · Colonial Beach
Monroe Bay
The protected bay on the town’s south side: marinas, boat slips, waterfront homes and calm water for paddling. Waterfront homes along Monroe Bay are one of Jessica’s specialties.
Park · Colonial Beach
Castlewood Park
A small town park on Monroe Bay, a short walk from the marinas.
History · Colonial Beach
The Bell House
The Victorian summer home of Alexander Graham Bell’s family, still standing on Irving Avenue. A private home: enjoy it from the street.
History · Colonial Beach
James Monroe Birthplace Park
Where the fifth president was born, just outside town on James Monroe Highway (Route 205). A replica of the family home stands on the site.
History · Northern Neck
George Washington Birthplace National Monument
Popes Creek, where George Washington was born in 1732: a National Park Service site with a colonial farm, a family burial ground and a beach on the Potomac.
History · Northern Neck
Stratford Hall
The great brick house of the Lee family, built in the 1730s on the bluffs above the Potomac, with gardens, trails and a gristmill.
Park · Northern Neck
Westmoreland State Park
Horsehead Cliffs above the Potomac, Fossil Beach (bring a sifter: shark teeth turn up all the time), hiking trails, campsites and cabins.
Park · King George
Caledon State Park
Old-growth forest on the Potomac in King George County, known for its summer bald eagles and quiet trails.
Town · King George
Dahlgren
Home of Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren, the area’s largest employer, about 20 minutes up the river from Colonial Beach.
Town · Northern Neck
Montross
Westmoreland County’s courthouse town, with the Westmoreland County Museum and a small-town main street.
Winery · Northern Neck
Ingleside Vineyards
One of Virginia’s oldest wineries, in the countryside near Oak Grove. The Chesapeake Bay Wine Trail links it with other vineyards around the Northern Neck.
Town · Northern Neck
Reedville
Millionaire’s Row: Victorian homes built on the menhaden fishing fortune, the Reedville Fishermen’s Museum, and cruise boats to Tangier and Smith islands.
Town · Northern Neck
Irvington & Kilmarnock
Where the Northern Neck meets the Rappahannock and the Chesapeake Bay: Carter’s Creek marinas, shops and restaurants in Irvington, and the main street of Kilmarnock nearby.
Water · King George
Fairview Beach
A small community on the Potomac in northwestern King George County, with waterfront homes, a sandy shoreline and views across the river to Maryland.
Park · King George
Barnesfield Park
A 165-acre county park near the Nice/Middleton Bridge, with sports fields, pavilions, playgrounds and walking trails. Next door, little Wayside Park has a boat ramp and a beach on the Potomac, and the Dahlgren Heritage Museum tells the story of the Navy base.
Town · King George
King George (county seat)
The county seat on Route 3, with the courthouse, county offices, shops and restaurants, and Presidential Lakes and other neighborhoods close by.
History · King George
Port Conway
James Madison, the fourth president, was born here on the Rappahannock in 1751, at Belle Grove, his mother’s family home. The house that stands there today is a private inn.
Work nearby
Dahlgren, Fredericksburg and beyond
Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren, up the river in King George County, is the area's largest employer, and plenty of Colonial Beach residents work there or in Fredericksburg. Others split the week between the water and Northern Virginia, or are retiring here after years of weekend visits.
Living in King GeorgeMoving from away?
Jessica helps buyers relocate
Some of Jessica's happiest clients bought from far away: one family from across the country, another retiring here from Texas. As the buyers from Texas put it, she “kept us fully informed of all communications with the seller, bank, and inspector.” Read their reviews.
Talk with Jessica about relocating