Carver Trail

Dogs Leashed

Features Birding · Historical Significance

The only restrooms in the monument are those in the visitor center. There are no water sources with potable water along the trail, so make sure you grab water before heading out on the trail.

The trail is not open to jogging, cycling, or other recreational activities.

The Carver Trail is an interpretive trail that winds its way through the George Washington Carver National Monument. Along the way, you'll see several statues of Carver, the site where he was born, the woods where he wandered as a child, the home where he was raised by Susan and Moses Carver (his enslavers), and the Carver family cemetery. The trail starts at the visitor center on a path made of recycled tires and makes its way past his birthplace cabin site.

While the cabin is gone, you can get a sense of how small the cabin was where he was born. Moving past the cabin, the trail descends into the woods down to a bronze statue of George Washington Carver as a boy by Robert Amendola entitled "Boy Carver Statue." Take a few minutes to enjoy the statue before crossing a bridge over a small creek and making your way on boardwalks and crushed gravel toward a pond and the house where Susan and Moses Carver lived later.

You can take the Contemplative Loop Trail around the pond, where there are quotes by Carver scattered along the Trail. If you skip the pond run, you can wander through the house and while Carver did not live there as he had moved on to pursue educational opportunities in neighboring towns, he certainly visited here. You an enjoy views of the fields and you may see fish or snapping turtles in the pond.

The trail re-enters the woods and crosses a small creek via a bridge before emerging from the woods along a Walnut Fence Row that approaches the Carver Cemetery. This part of the trail is exposes, so you may want to run this in reverse on a hot day to get out of the sun. Explore the Carver Cemetery, where Moses and Susan are buried, along with children and other relatives.

The trail turns to the left and makes its way back to the visitor center, but not before it passes a concrete bust of GWC created by Audrey Corwin in 1952. The trail ends up back at the visitor center where you can continue to learn about George Washington Carver.

As you run the grounds, you might see deer along the trails, especially in the fields in the evening. As you approach the Contemplative Loop Trail pond, keep your eyes peeled for fish in the pond, or snapping turtles sunning themselves. In the spring, flowers can be seen in the woods and around the the farm lands.