A testimony to the value of the Clean Water Act, this system of natural area parks borders a section of rocks and rapids that was once a series of stagnant pools and polluted water. Raw sewage and industrial waste dumped into the river, there were few fish and public access was prohibited due to the many health hazards. When the sewer line was completed in 1972 the quality of water improved dramatically and the city was encouraged to acquire pieces of land for public use. The service road for the sewer line became the pedestrian access to the river. 

The past reputation for dirty water made initial public use limited. Park rules that prohibited swimming, boating and bicycling contributed to disinterest. After a delay of a half a dozen years, interest resumed. 

In 1981, the Pony Pasture Rapids section was opened. This 130 acre plot, once a meadow for horses, was saved by citizens who opposed a massive highway project that would have despoiled the riverside. It is now one of the most popular places for families and youth to hang out on the rocks.

In 1982, land along the north shore was acquired at the end of Texas Avenue - about 1/2 a dozen blocks east of Maymont Park. This 14-acre plot remains the most isolated and natural sections of the park system.

Other pieces soon followed: In 1984, the Huguenot Flatwater was established. Located on either side of the Huguenot Bridge, the steps at this site provide the only access to calm water for canoes and kayaks, and no motor boats anywhere on the James.

Just downstream is William's Island. This is a wildlife preserve and has the nest of a Bald Eagle. Richmond is the only capitol city in the lower 48 states to have an eagle nesting inside the corporate limits.

Ancarrows Landing is located at the eastern end of the park, below the fall line. The river bottom is sand and the water is flat. This site has a large concrete ramp and provides access for motor boats. But this is historic area too. It is the site of the first building in Richmond (William Byrd's Trading Post), the first railroad in Virginia (the wooden railed coal line from Midlothian), the Confederate Naval Shipyard and, it was later found, the infamous slave docks - site of the greatest import of enslaved people in America. As a result of this finding, the park area was expanded to include part of the route walked by slaves on their way to the docks.

Great Shiplock Park was similarly acquired. It contains an operable canal lock and the ruins of a famous shipbuilding factory. It offers good shoreline fishing in the spring.

In the early 1990s, the 3-Mile Locks/Pumphouse Park was taken over by the James River Park System. This complex includes the first operatingl canal system in the United States - opened in 1789, as well as a beautiful stone building that looks like a church on the outside, a castle on the inside and has a public ballroom on the second floor. These are being restored.

Future acquisitions will include 20 acres around Bosher's Dam at the far western edge of the city (site of the new fish ladder and portage trail around the dam) and 4 acres around the Powhite Bridge at about the midway point through the rapids. A new project is to re-establish the Bateaux Routes in the rocky part of the river, to promote low water canoe use in the summer.