Great Shiplock Park and the Low Line

The result of a public/private partnership, landscapes in Great Shiplock Park and the Low Line have been transformed into inviting and exciting public green space. Concerned citizens lead the efforts through a group known as Capital Trees. Most recent efforts have created a linear park along a critically important but neglected stretch of the Kanawha Canal and Virginia Capital Trail. Now dubbed the “Low Line”, with a nod to New York City’s High Line, the site connects a recently enhanced Great Shiplock Park (GSP) with Richmond’s much-loved Canal Walk. The great lock, built between 1850-1854, connected the James River with the Richmond Dock, completing the James River and Kanawha Canal system that bypassed seven miles of falls and continued 197 miles through Virginia’s western mountain ranges. This park is the lowest of historic Kanawha Canal locks with an interpretive display.It also offers great fishing off Chapel Island.