Activities
While in Mathews, be sure to check out the many things to see and do. The quaint, historic Courthouse Square and Captain Sally Tompkins Cottage are centrally located in the village business district. Other points of interest include New Point Comfort Lighthouse, Williams Wharf Landing, Bethel Beach Nature Preserve, Gwynn’s Island Museum, Fort Nonsense, and New Point Comfort Observation Walkway. Throughout the county you will also find a wide variety of interesting shops and restaurants. Be sure to check out the Mathews County Visitor & Information Center. These helpful folks can make you aware of everything there is to see and do in Mathews County.
Special Things to See and Do
- Explore the Mobjack Peninsula or Gwynn’s Island on your way home, or if you are staying until Sunday, take a special ride on the Mobjack route, where you can visit the Poddery, the area's largest selection of handmade stoneware pottery, sculpture and tiles, or the Gwynn's Island tour, home of the Gwynn's Island Museum, a wonderful exhibit of life on the island and in Mathews County in the days of old.
- Enjoy the spectacular view of the distant New Point Comfort Lighthouse, built circa 1805, from the end of the observation deck.
- Visit Bethel Beach Preserve or the newly restored Haven Beach, home of the rare tiger beetle and nesting place for the Least Tern and other wildlife.
Mathews County – A Great Place to Paddle
Few locations offer a better place to paddle than Mathews, a Virginia county that extends south along the western shores of the Chesapeake Bay from the Piankatank River to the Mobjack Bay. It is an area of natural scenic beauty with more than 200 miles of shoreline, three tidal rivers, and fifty navigable creeks. Here you may experience a wide variety of historical and natural sights. Circle the New Point Comfort Lighthouse, tour maritime fishing villages, tidal mills, steamship wharves, and explore miles of pristine beach and salt marsh habitats abounding with wildlife.
Bay Trails Outfitters
Guided Kayak Tours - No Experience Necessary!
- Lighthouse Island Tour
- Marshes and Mansions Tour
- Wetlands Wanders
- Colonial Creeks and Cattails
- Full Moon Tours
- Overnight Island Excursions
- Custom Group Tours and more!
Tel. 804-725-0626 Fax: 804-725-4937 Toll Free: 888-725-7225
Pamper Packages A & B
These pamper packages are available through the Mathews Land Conservancy. Package A is great for the non-rider while Package B is great for both the non-rider and the rider. The deadline for registration is May 14, 2008. Space is limited - first come first serve.
Contact Lynda Greve for more information!
(mclc@3bubbas.com or 804-725-9685)
A
10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Manicure/pedicure from Kristy’s Day Spa
Lunch at Carpenters on Main
Shopping discounts at local gift and fashion boutiques
$50
B
1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Manicure/pedicure from Kristy’s Day Spa
Shopping discounts at local gift and fashion boutiques
$40
Welcome to Mathews County, Virginia
Attractions
Home to the third oldest lighthouse on the Bay, a cultural arts center, Virginia’s Lil’ Ole Opry, two museums, nature preserves, and an active artisan community, Mathews County offers something for everyone.
Mathews County is home to the Bay School Cultural Arts Center providing students a unique opportunity to explore the arts. Year-round classes are offered in painting, sculpting, rug hooking, glass blowing, bead working, papermaking, basket weaving and more. The Center also hosts special exhibits, lectures and live performances throughout the year.
While you’re in the county, plan to visit The Poddery. Weekly kiln firings produce the largest selection of handmade stoneware, and tiles in the area. Original pottery, outdoor sculptures, Chesapeake Bay inspired designs may be seen at this unique pottery showroom, open daily - 10:00 am - 5:00 pm.
The third oldest lighthouse on the Bay, New Point Comfort Lighthouse was commissioned in 1804 by Thomas Jefferson. The 55-foot octagonal sandstone lighthouse sits on an island, separated from the mainland by the Hurricane of 1933. View by boat or from the New Point Comfort Preserve Observation Walkway.
Originally established as a community project, the Gwynn’s Island Museum started out on a small scale. From the beginning it was obvious that there was a great deal of interest in preserving the long and colorful history of Gwynn’s Island and Mathews County. The Museum grew rapidly and by the end of the first year space for the many exhibits and artifacts had become limited, so plans were made to look for a new home on the Island. A 100-year-old building, originally serving as the Odd Fellows Lodge and later the Island’s first public school, was donated in 1992 and restored by dedicated volunteers to what you see today.
Bethel Beach Natural Area Preserve, 83-acres of sandy beach, low dunes and salt marshes on the Chesapeake Bay, is home to rare plants, nesting birds and the endangered Northeastern Beach Tiger Beetle. Visitors are welcome, but please tread lightly and respect the restrictions.
Outdoors adventures
With more than eighty-four square miles of scenic, flat terrain and over 200 miles of shoreline, Mathews County is noted for its bicycling, kayaking, bird watching, fishing and sailing.
Make the most of this paddlers paradise with a Mathews Blueways Guide detailing 90 miles of water trails. Five self-guided day-trip and extended-stay paddling adventures await kayakers and canoeists of all experience levels. Purchase full color trail guides from the Mathews County Visitor & Information Center. Use your own craft or rent from a local outfitter, Bay Trails Outfitters.
Cycling enthusiasts enjoy the scenic, flat back roads, natural beauty and small town charm of Mathews County. A Bicycle Routes Guide is available from the Mathews County Visitor & Information Center offering trails ranging from 5.5 miles to 13 miles, covering the entire county.
Mathews County’s eighty-four square miles of natural habitat on the Atlantic Flyway is a birders paradise. Part of the new Virginia Birding & Nature Trails coastal loop system, Mathews has a network of ten designated trails spanning the county and waterways.
Located on the southern Chesapeake Bay, Mathews is ideally situated for Charter Fishing on the Bay or planning ocean excursions. Sailors and boaters could spend weeks exploring the wealth of creeks and rivers that surround Mathews County.
Williams Wharf Landing, a historic steamboat wharf currently under renovation to create a public facility for self-propelled watercraft and maritime history, is home to the international champion Mathews High School Crew Team.
