Belle Isle’s Nature Exploration Area opened May 14.
When my brother and I were 8 and 10, respectively, we played outside until the dinner bell rang. We built forts in kudzu gullies, diverted streams with sandy dams and carved trails down the bluff to Mobile Bay in Alabama.
My sons were those same ages when we moved to Richmond five years ago, and one of our first outings in town was to Belle Isle. With the city skyline at our backs, we stepped onto the footbridge, crossing over the rapids and landing on the wild urban island. The boys hopped from rock to rock and ran along the trails, oblivious to the February cold. We had discovered a place in our new city reminiscent of my childhood, with water and woods and room to roam.
We’ve returned to Belle Isle again and again since then for bike rides on the pump track; leisurely afternoon strolls to explore nature; and a week of summer camp, where my youngest zip-lined over the quarry pond.
In May, Belle Isle opened a Nature Exploration Area near the northern entrance to the island, giving families yet another reason to visit. Built to reflect the surrounding landscape, the site encourages nature-based play incorporating local materials including driftwood, boulders and milled logs. With its prime location, the space immediately invites children in.
The project is part of the Belle Isle Vision Plan, a collaboration among the nonprofit Friends of the James River Park, the city of Richmond, community donors and design firm Marvel.
Penelope Davenport Gorman, executive director of Friends of the James River Park, at Belle Isle on opening day
“We want young children to feel comfortable and welcome accessing a wild space like Belle Isle as well as running, jumping, climbing, imagining and exploring,” says Penelope Davenport Gorman, executive director of Friends of the James River Park.
To kids, they are merely playing, but beneath the surface, much more is going on. “Everything about the project was research-driven,” Gorman says. “We were thinking about gross motor objectives, outdoor education and early childhood development skills as well as physical, emotional and mental health.”
Gorman says the project also reflects her personal values as a mother. “I try to encourage my daughters to take risks, climb and get dirty,” she says. “I want them to grow into adults with a solid framework for risk assessment and assured of their own decisions.”
Yet despite the widely reported benefits of outdoor play, today’s kids are spending less time outside. A 2018 survey from Canadian outdoor company Kamik found that American children ages 3-12 spend 35% less time playing outside freely than their parents once did.
While it might be easy to lay the blame on technology, a 2025 Harris Poll discovered more screen time is not actually the main culprit. Of the kids ages 8 to 12 who were surveyed, an overwhelming majority preferred in-person outdoor play to screens. The findings suggested the decline has more to do with over-scheduled calendars and parental anxiety.
That comes at a high cost. Six out of 10 children had never been on a walk or bike ride without their parents or built an outdoor fort. Too many kids are missing out on key childhood experiences.
State and local leaders gathered to cut the ribbon on Belle Isle’s Nature Exploration Area in May.
Richmond’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities is striving to change this. “Expanding and enhancing access to outdoor spaces is part of our ethos,” says Giles Garrison, operations manager for the city’s parks system and former superintendent of the James River Park System.
This summer, through reduced-cost day camps, the city brought in around 900 children to the James River Park System to mountain bike, fish and hike. Encompassing nearly 700 acres, the James River Park System runs 7 miles from Huguenot Flatwater to Ancarrow’s Landing.
“We want to keep the wildness while making sure the area is cared for and safe,” Garrison says.
With 350,000 annual visits, Belle Isle is the system’s most popular park. Looking ahead, Garrison is hopeful other components of the Belle Isle Vision Plan will come to fruition, including updating the pump track, building a pavilion, creating an accessible boardwalk around the quarry and reducing hazards around the former hydroelectric plant. “We hope these enhanced features will be the scaffolding for the next generation,” she says.
By restoring Belle Isle, Garrison is preserving a piece of her own childhood. When she was growing up on the South Side, the river was her happy place, where she tubed with her stepfather, played on the rocks with friends or found solitude as a teenager.
“The James River Park System was where I developed a sense of independence and felt fully alive as a human,” she says. In a world increasingly shaped by schedules, supervision and screens, those moments of freedom are rare — and more valuable than ever.
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