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About Discover the James

"Discover the James" is a great way to enjoy the outdoors.  Through a variety of educational and inspirational eco-tours, including Wildlife & History Tour, featuring a Bald Eagle Tour and fishing trips, you can go deep into the heart of an incredible, historic ecosystem.  Whether you already enjoy wildlife watching and history, or maybe you are looking for a passion that includes the outdoors, we have something for you.  

Our goal is to offer inspirational outings while continuing to develop new programs and improving on our existing ones while providing the best opportunites for discovery. We pledge to educate and enlighten while maintaining a safe & enjoyable atmosphere on the wonderful resource, that today, we call the James River (400 years ago it was called the Powhatan Flu). 

 

Please use the following links as resources to learn more about us and the river.   

The photo's stories?  Top left:  Between ten and fifteen thousand years ago, perhaps longer, American Indians settled on a great river which flowed from mountains, into a bay and then to the sea.  Eagles probably flew overhead when they first arrived on the river.  For nearly that length of time, Indians and bald eagles were one with the land.  Over the last few centuries, population growth, degredation of habitat, and chemicals in the environment decimated the bald eagle population on the James River.  Today, bald eagles have made an incredible recovery from the low numbers in the early 1970's.  Acutally, the resident bald eagles on the James River were extirpated, or locally extinct, in 1975.  Today, over 180 pair of resident bald eagles call the James River and it's tributaries home.  This image happens to be one of Discover the James' favorite eagles, Bandit.  -- Photo by Bob Schamerhorn.  To see more of Bob's work, click here.

Above, right:  The James River, looking east. This photo was taken near the Richmond Yacht Basin, which is the upriver end of a portion of the river called Jefferson's Reach. The photo was taken just before sunrise and shows the river as it has looked at that time of day for as long as the river has been viewed by human inhabitants.   -- Photo by Discover the James.