Poquoson · US

Thomas Jefferson Rollins Nature Area

Thomas Jefferson Rollins Nature Area is a 104-acre saltmarsh and woodland preserve at the end of Poquoson Avenue, where the Back River opens wide before Hampton Roads. Locally known as Amory's Wharf, this modest waterfront park layers rich colonial history beneath an extraordinary birding habitat, with ospreys, herons, egrets, and bald eagles working the marshes year-round. The site is one of the oldest landing places on the Virginia Peninsula. It was here that the first English settlers came ashore in the 1600s under a royal land grant, and it remained Poquoson's arrival point through the 1700s. A wharf was built in the 1800s, making it a busy port for seafood and produce, and a Civil War skirmish saw the U.S. Navy sink six Confederate schooners just offshore. Today, visitors come for the wide marsh views, the sunsets, and the sheer concentration of wildlife that still thrives in this working estuary.