In the early 1600s, Englishman John Smith traveled through the Chesapeake region, where he encountered thriving American Indian communities and observed a bountiful Chesapeake. The three thousand-mile Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail traces the exploratory voyages Smith conducted from 1607 to 1609 on the Chesapeake Bay and along several major rivers. The trail includes parks, museum sites, driving tours, and water trails aligned with his historic voyage routes, and it offers opportunities for recreation and discovery through rivers, coves, open water, woodland trails, shoreline paths, rural landscapes, historic villages, places celebrating American Indian heritage, wildlife areas, festivals, demonstrations, and guided tours.