A Vision for the Trail

An Opportunity for Discovery

The Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail follows the routes Captain John Smith’s explored in 1607-1609 as he mapped the Chesapeake and established relationships with the American Indians he met. It is the nation’s first entirely water-based national historic trail, and like the 16 other National Historic Trails, it takes trail travelers along a route of national historic significance.

The trail is a lasting legacy of the commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the establishment of Jamestown in 1607, the first permanent English settlement in North America. Smith led the colony and from Jamestown explored the Bay.

Then-U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes of Maryland said in remarks in 2006 when he introduced legislation to authorize the trail that designating the route as “a national historic trail would be a tremendous way to celebrate an important part of our Nation's story…. It would also give recognition to the Native American settlements, culture and natural history of the 17th-century Chesapeake. Similar in historic importance to the Lewis and Clark National Trail, this new historic water trail will inspire generations of Americans and visitors to follow Smith's journeys, to learn about the roots of our nation and to better understand the contributions of the Native Americans who lived within the Bay region.”

Get out on the trail to see the region's remarkable maritime history, unique watermen and their culture, diversity of people, historic settlements, and on-going efforts to restore and sustain the bay as the world's most productive estuary.