FaQ:
- Currently there is no vehicular access to the boat launch. All watercraft must be walked 756 ft to the launch site.
- The launch site is open from Dawn to Dusk, 365 days a year.
- Access to the Germanna Ford Boat Launch is free.
- Parking is free and is located at Historic Germanna’s Visitor Center.
- The next public take out is at Ely’s Ford, located 7.8 miles down the Rapidan River
Germanna Ford History:
Once called the Rapid Anne in homage to England’s Queen Anne, the Rapidan River connects the Blue Ridge Mountains with the Chesapeake Bay. It’s the same waterway that flowed through and sustained the lives of Indigenous peoples for thousands of years, as well as German and English immigrants and enslaved Africans. The name Siegen Forest pays homage to the Siegen Forest region in Germany, the original home of the 1714 German settlers at Germanna.
Siegen Forest, along the horseshoe-shaped bend in the Rapidan River, is rich with history and stands as a cultural crossroads. Native Americans, colonists, and enslaved people worked these lands for nourishment, profit, and survival for centuries. In 1714, Lt. Governor Alexander Spotswood brought a colony of German indentured servants to the newly constructed Fort, named Germanna, after Queen Anne and the newly arrived Germans. As their indenture wined down, a second colony of German indentured servants arrived in 1717.
A few years later, Spotswood oversaw the construction of his palatial mansion in the Wilderness, which would become known, as it is today, as the Enchanted Castle. He then quickly had a complex of buildings constructed on the banks of the Rapidan that would be known as the first Spotsylvania Courthouse complex; in addition to the courthouse, there was a jail, a church, an ordinary, and possibly more structures in what would become a small, but energetic town located at the Germanna Ford.
At one point, there was a ferry, but then a bridge was built. When America was divided by the Civil War, the bridge was destroyed and quickly replaced by a pontoon bridge. Armed forces crossed this Ford during the Civil War in many famous battles. In late April 1863, after a bloody December 1862 defeat at Fredericksburg, the U.S. Army of the Potomac crossed the river and marched toward another deadly battle at Chancellorsville. A year later, at the opening of the Overland Campaign in May 1864, the United States Colored Troops approached the Battle of the Wilderness across the Germanna Ford and marched towards a field of battle where neither side could claim victory despite 30,000 dead and wounded.
- All visitors must adhere to “pack it in, pack it out” practices, and follow these additional rules and safety guidelines:
- Use of metal detectors or other sensing devices, digging or other ground disturbance, or removal or collection of artifacts, materials, plants, or relics is strictly prohibited. Please notify the Foundation if you see any evidence of such activities.
- Help protect our historical sites by staying on trails. Do not walk on the Civil War earthworks or walk on or move rocks at any historical building sites.
- Do not drink water from streams or the river.
- Wear insect repellent and appropriate clothing and shoes. Beware of poison ivy, chiggers, ticks, and snakes. Foxes, bears and even a coyote have been reported in the Forest.
- Picnicking is allowed at the established area(s). No overnight camping and no fires are allowed, except for Scouts and other organized and supervised groups, and only with advance written permission from the Foundation. Pack out all your trash.
- Although hunting inside the Foundation’s Siegen Forest is illegal, it is wise to exercise caution and wear bright colors when walking the trail during hunting season.