Ivy Creek Natural Area and Historic River View Farm

Ivy Creek Natural Area and Historic River View Farm is a 219-acre preserve jointly owned by Albemarle County and the City of Charlottesville, Virginia, and managed by the Ivy Creek Foundation. With assistance from the Nature Conservancy, ICNA was founded by local citizens who valued this former farmland on the Rivanna Reservoir for its natural beauty, diverse wildlife habitat, and watershed protection.

Ivy Creek Natural Area and Historic River View Farm is an official site on the Virginia African American Heritage Trail in recognition of its rich social and agricultural history dating back to 1870 when Mr. Hugh Carr, a formerly enslaved person, purchased the land as a family farm. Known as River View Farm, the land was in the Carr and Greer family for a century before becoming the Ivy Creek Natural Area. A free take-home brochure celebrating this incredible story can be found at the kiosk at ICNA and on the website.

To protect the serenity of the wildlife and the trails, dogs, bikes, motorized vehicles, jogging, camping, fires, hunting, and nature specimen collection are prohibited.

The Natural Area is a mix of pine and hardwood forests, old fields, streams, natural springs, and 2 miles of shoreline. Seven miles of walking trails and a 3/4 mile paved trail (for visitors with special needs) are open free to the public every day from 7:00 a.m. to sunset. For more information on activities, contact the Ivy Creek Foundation at (434) 973-7772.