Quarterly Thematic Tours 2008

The James Madison Landmark Forest Tour (Big Woods Walk)

Take this guided walking tour of the 200-acre James Madison Landmark Forest, an old-growth forest known as "The Big Woods." Designated a National Natural Landmark by the federal government, it is the best example of an old-growth forest in the Piedmont. Montpelier's Horticulturist conducts the tour which shows how the forest changes throughout the seasons.

Freedman's Farm Tour, and Confederate Winter Camp Site Walking Tour

This guided walking tour of the 1863-64 Civil War encampment will show you where the Confederate South Carolina Brigade spent a cold winter while waiting for the spring thaw to resume fighting. The tour will end up at the Gilmore Cabin: A Freedman's Farm, the home built in 1872 by George Gilmore, an African-American freedman who was born a slave at Montpelier around 1810. Gilmore lived there with his wife Polly, a seamstress, and their five children.