Leakes Mill Park opens as Goochland County's newest recreation hub

Leakes Mill Park gives western Goochland a single place for youth games, family outings and trail use, with 176 acres of parkland about three miles west of the Goochland Courthouse area. The site combines three fully irrigated multi-use Bermuda athletic fields, a concession and restroom facility, two picnic shelters and a large playground, turning what was once a longer drive for many residents into a local recreation stop.

The park’s trail system is just as important to its role in the county. Goochland County says Leakes Mill includes nine miles of multi-use trails with 10 unique bridge crossings and access to the park’s namesake mill. The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources describes the network as natural-surface multi-use routes and small footpaths running through forest and along Big Lickinghole Creek, which gives walkers, runners and cyclists a more varied route than a simple loop. For families, that mix matters: one trip can cover a field game, a playground stop and a walk on the trails.

Leakes Mill has also grown beyond its earliest public concept. In 2013, Richmond Magazine described a 167-acre park planned to open on the south side of Route 6, about two miles west of the courthouse, with a soccer field and roughly three miles of trails. County planning material later showed a larger buildout, including an additional oversized multipurpose athletic field, two picnic shelters, playgrounds and nine miles of mountain bike trails. That expansion has made Leakes Mill one of Goochland’s most ambitious recreation projects rather than a narrow sports complex.

County capital-project materials say trail upgrades were completed in 2020, including improved access to the mill, and a county interpretive nature tour in 2021 invited residents to learn about the park’s history and its wildlife and plant life. The long-term vision does not stop there. Goochland says future site development will include a bicycle skills park, signaling that the county sees Leakes Mill as a growing destination for riders as well as ballplayers and casual visitors.

Community stewardship is part of the park’s identity too. The Virginia Outdoors Foundation says the nine miles of mountain biking trails were built and maintained by a core group of volunteers and are protected by an open-space easement. County recreation records also note that night riding was approved on the trails, adding another layer of use for mountain bikers.

For western Goochland, Leakes Mill Park does more than add acreage. It pulls organized sports, trails, creek-side scenery and gathering space into one location, and it brings a substantial recreation asset closer to families who previously had fewer nearby options.