Natasha Lindeback zig zags around the state in her gray Toyota 4-Runner from one picturesque spot to the next.
She’s smitten by the wild ponies in Grayson Highlands State Park in southwest Virginia, fascinated by the history in Surry’s Chippokes State Park and once discovered a ship ruin in Kiptopeke State Park along the Chesapeake Bay.
The Richmonder is an official Master Hiker, a designation awarded by the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation. The distinction means she has visited 40 of the 43 state parks in the Commonwealth.
Yet the journey to Master Hiker was never about her.
Lindeback’s 5-year-old German Shepherd, Caoimhe, (pronounced kee-vah) became a Master Hiker alongside her, including a creative hike at False Cape State Park despite rules that technically keep dogs off the path.
Inspired by a challenge
Lindeback is an accountant who had never heard about the Master Hiker program when she completed a 50k race in 2017 in the Grayson Highlands State Park, home to Virginia’s highest peaks in Mount Rogers and Whitetop Mountain.
The 46-year-old was among the second-ever class of women to enroll at Virginia Military Institute in 1998 and considered herself, at the time of the race in 2017, more of a runner.
“I was very much in the back of the pack for that race, and I was doing a lot more hiking than running, but I really loved it,” she said. “In the mountains and surrounded by nature started me wanting to be out more and doing more hiking.”
Virginia State Parks’ Trail Quest challenges people to log every visit to a state park with 40 of the 43 locations participating. For every five parks visited, hikers receive a pin.
Since the program started in 2010, 767 people have earned the designation; no official records track the number of dogs.
Caoimhe, a name from Irish folklore that means beautiful and noble, is Lindeback’s favorite partner in Virginia state parks. The pair explore the state’s natural diversity among 700 miles of trails along the Atlantic Ocean, Chesapeake Bay, Blue Ridge Mountains and historic sites.
Visiting False Cape State Park, nestled between Back Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, inspired Lindeback to register Caoimhe for a Master Hiker account. Enjoying that park with a dog is no simple feat.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prohibits pets from accessing the park at the Virginia Beach entrance, which passes through Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
So Lindeback got creative after buying a 4-Runner.
“I knew I could take it to North Carolina, drive on the beach and hike into False Cape with Caoimhe that way,” she said.
The trip included a three-and-a-half-hour drive to Corolla followed by driving 10 miles on Carova Beach.
“I had to make sure to look at the tide charts, because the last thing I wanted was to have my car wash away while it was parked, or to encounter more water than beach while I was driving,” Lindeback said. “Then I also made sure that I had recovery gear like traction boards and the shovel, just in case I got stuck in the sand.”
Lindeback used an app to find a property a few miles off the beach. She camped there overnight despite temperatures dropping into the 40s.
“I wanted us to be fresh for the next day,” she said.
Typically, Lindeback and Caoimhe hike four to five miles, but finished 12 the next day in Virginia’s southernmost state park. The goal was to reach the buoy at the Atlantic Ocean’s shoreline for a photo opp.
“It was totally worth it,” she said.
Once they checked off that park, Lindeback knew they could make it to all of them.
“That was the biggest obstacle for us,” she said.
“Pick a park and see what’s around it”
Virginia’s state parks are as small as the 1-acre Tabb Monument in Amelia County and as vast as Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield, which is 7,919 acres.
Sometimes Lindeback would check a few parks off in one day. Often she takes a weekday off work to visit the more popular parks, as Caoimhe tends to be reactive when meeting another dog on the trail.
“She loves sticks, and I call them her security blanket,” Lindeback said. “As long as I can get her to focus on that, she’s great.”
Lindeback totes a change of clothing, rain jacket, a safety harness for Caoimhe she’s never used and a Garmin Inreach, also never used, which triggers an SOS if needed. Peanut butter and crackers are her go-to for fuel along with bananas.
Her favorite park to hike, Grayson Highlands in Jefferson National Forest, is one of the few state parks where wild ponies roam.
“Every time I’ve visited, I’ve managed to find at least one pony,” she said, noting that one overly friendly horse stood on her tent as she was pitching it.
Only one of the parks, Belle Isle in Lancaster, underwhelmed her.
“But I think that had more to do with the time of year I visited,” she said. “It was fall and a dreary day.”
In addition to False Cape, Lindeback picks Mason Neck in Lorton for having the best water views. Caledon State Park in King George “is in my top 10,” she said.
“There’s a hike there you can do that takes you to the beach,” she said. “It’s especially nice to get there near sunset to see the changing sky.”
A winter cabin stay in Hungry Mother State Park in Marion was spectacular. She and Caoimhe traveled steep Molly’s Knob, which includes breathtaking views of Mount Rogers and Whitetop Mountain.
Lindeback and Caoimhe completed the Master Hiker program at Westmoreland State Park in Montross late last year.
Lindeback could choose any of the state parks for her and Caoimhe to receive their official certificates. While she considered returning to False Cape, she chose Pocahontas, the park they visit most near her Midlothian home.
“It’s just such an underrated park,” she said.
Lindeback looks forward to repeat visits to many of the state parks with Caoimhe.
“If I were to win the lottery, I would be visiting parks all over the country,” she said. “It’s an amazing way to explore a state – pick a park and see what’s around it.”
