Prince William Forest Park: Franklin Roosevelt's Enduring Natural Gift

Prince William Forest Park is the largest area of continuous forest in the Washington, DC metro area, offering almost 20,000 acres to explore along the Chopawamsic and Quantico creeks.  Just 30 miles from the city, the park offers a rugged hiking opportunity packaged neatly as an easy day trip.  My younger twin sisters and I recently took advantage of a compressed work week to visit the park on a Friday morning when the air temperature was close to boiling, in the company of three elated dogs;  Bear, a dimwitted Lab, Carmelo, an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder afflicted pit bull, and Cash, a gentile coon hound.

Prince William Forest arguably is one of the more historically interesting parks in the area, a microcosm of the ecological and social history of Virginia. In pre-colonial times, the area was a thriving forest ecosystem but by the early 20th century had been converted to farmland.

The degraded land was targeted as part of president Franklin Roosevelt's job creation program during the Great Depression.  The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was enlisted in the development of a previously nonexistent type of park, the Recreational Demonstration Area (RDA).  In the 1930s,  Prince William Forest was developed as the Chopawamsic RDA with the purpose of functioning as a camp where low income children from nearby urban areas could come to escape city life.  The hope was this experience in the great outdoors would spawn an generation of hearty, rugged, pioneer spirited children, undoubtedly a byproduct of the determined American spirit forged during the Great Depression.I thought of this pioneering spirit after our hike as I shoveled lumps of Brie into my mouth and the dogs lapped Brita purified water and inhaled organic, grain free duck and sweet potato treats.  Perhaps we were a perversion of Roosevelt's dream of the hearty citizen.

The Chopawamsic RDA camps began hosting children in the mid 1930s, and representative of the time, camps were segregated, separate camps for males and females; black and white visitors, this separation still evident today in the individual entrances to the various camps. 

The foolish attempt at physical exertion in the sauna that is summer in the Washington, DC area required we hike near water during our visit to Prince William Forest.  Following the south fork of the Quantico Creek we passed enduring evidence of the trail blazing labor of Roosevelt's CCC in the remaining cabins and recreational lakes built in the 1930s.  The forest, like the park, is also young, but the uninterrupted habitat shelters a diverse range of flora and fauna, over 100 different species of birds frequent the park. Even during our short hike we saw half dozen deer, and just the mere scent had a methamphetamine like effect on all three dogs, tennis balls were dropped, and treats shunned as the boys channeled their wild ancestors (briefly, before lolling in the air conditioning of the Subaru for the duration of our trip home). 

To recreate our short summer hike, from the park headquarters, follow the Scenic Drive Road west to Parking lot G.  Walk down Mavawi Road, a gravel track, then take the first left (down a steep step) to the South Valley Trail.  The trail follows the Quantico creek eventually leading to the man made lakes and camp cabins.  If you can ignore the khaki color of the water, the slightly 1980s slasher film reminiscent campground, or are a Labrador Retriever, take advantage cooling off in the lake. 

Prince William Forest Park
18100 Park Headquarters Road, Triangle VA 22172-1644


For more detailed park information, check the National Park Service website for Prince William Forest at www.nps.gov/prwi

Scott's Run Nature Preserve: McLean's Hemlock Studded Treasure

Barely a mile from the  Capital Beltway, Scott’s Run Nature Preserve provides the opportunity for a heart pumping, lung busting, sweat pouring hike.  The nature preserve is located along the Potomac River in McLean, one of Fairfax County’s most palatial suburbs.

The nature preserve is also one of the region's most diverse areas of forest in terms of the range of plant species.  Hemlock, oak, beech, and wild cherry trees all inhabit the park, and Virginia bluebells and sessile trillum appear with seasonal flourish.   The 220-acre preserve also functions as an ecological time capsule; hemlocks in the preserve are the descendants of ice age era migrants, and the unique rock formations dotting the riverbank were formed as much as 520-million years ago, caused by a fault line running through the preserve.  .        

Primary user groups in the nature preserve are trail runners and day hikers; and off-leash dogs are not uncommon.  An extensive network of trails gives dog owners the impression there are utterly alone-- and can chance letting the fur baby run wild without bumping into a ranger monitoring the trails for the Fairfax County Park Authority (county regulations stipulate even the most harmless dogs must be leashed at all times in Scott's Run). 
  

I have hiked Scott's Run with three generations of dogs (some with very selective hearing); and once I deviate from the main waterfall trail, rarely see other people.  However, over the years I have encountered the occasional colorful character-- a relic hunter with a fanny-pack full Dr. Pepper, a couple hiking with their cat, and a regular influx of swimmers who take to the Potomac like retrieving Labradors without regard for public health advisories, or ring worm.  I have also seen a number of less exotic species; red fox (Vulpes vulpes), red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus), blue heron (Ardea herodias), and the seemingly unavoidable white-tailed deer  (Odocoileus virginianus) who thrive and overpopulate the predator-free suburban haven.   

There is currently no established trail map for Scott's Run; and Fairfax County and does not mark any of the trails in the preserve.  But, there are some  map signboards scattered very unpredictably throughout the preserve.  The only marked trail  is the 830-mile  blazed and maintained Potomac Heritage Trail, which passes through Scott's Run,  hugging the Potomac from the river's mouth in the Chesapeake bay all the way to the Allegheny Highlands.  

For an decent hike (without the threat of getting lost in the McLean backcountry), park in the East parking lot (the smaller lost, closer to the intersection of Georgetown Pike and 495).  Circumvent the large metal parking  gate and follow the trail past a pool and tennis court endowed private residence on the right.  Stay on this main (wider!) trail, which eventually descends down a steep and set of wooden stairs towards the river.  Once down the stairs, veer to the right, where Scott's Run enters the Potomac as a waterfall.  For a longer hike, follow the river (take a right at the river) and follow markers for the Potomac Heritage Trail (PHT).  Follow the trail past some impressive rock formations and fern beds, until it curves right and begins a steep climb.  After the uphill, the trail will dead end at the main waterfall trail, turn left to return to the East parking lot. 

Scott's Run: 7400 Georgetown Pike, McLean VA 22102

Although there are no printable trail maps available, for a topo map of the preserve, visit

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/cct/downloads/scottsruntopo.pdf

Sky Meadow

 Sky Meadow State Park: Easy Escape from DC

Ambassador Whitehorse Trail

Strategically placed benches

Sky Meadow is the easy option for urban dwellers who can't quite commit to the Shenandoah National Park (SNP), but still want to dabble in Virginia's Blue Ridge.  Named by the original owner in the early 18th century for a Scottish island, the park is arguably (especially in the right fog), reminiscent of the endless hills of Scotland.   Previously a functioning farm, now one of Virginia's many state parks, bovine encounters are still possible at Sky Meadow, as I discovered on my last visit, when my coon hound ecstatically divided his time between baying at the cattle and rolling in their leavings.  

Post cow leavings

The park provides a wide range of hikes (and strolls), for those of varying ruggedness.  For those considering Sky Meadow as a brief, fresh air diversion on the way to a winery, head straight from the parking lot to the Piedmont Overlook trail, where minimal effort is monumentally rewarded with endless Piedmont vistas.  For anyone more ambitious, or in shape, a scrubby section of the Appalachian Trail also passes through the park, and can be accessed by following the Ambassador Whitehouse Trail.  There are  strategically placed benches at most of the scenic overlooks in this park that appear like mirages and provide an impetus to take a break...even for hikers who are *never* tired, or winded. 

Flanked and dwarfed by the 4,000 acre G.R. Thompson Wildlife Management Area, encounters with Virginia's fauna at Sky Meadow usually outnumber those with the grazing cattle near the park entrance.  In the late afternoon, deer freckle the rolling hills in swarms, at most I have seen close to a dozen at once, fortunately in the company of a cataract ridden and senile Golden Retriever.  Black bears also frequent the park, and Sky Meadow is also noted as having one the largest populations of redheaded woodpeckers in the state.  Last fall, while heading downward on the South Ridge Trail, my cow pie coated coon hound stepped on a very testy black racer.  For the real dreamers, according to the Winchester, VA based volunteer run organization Cougar Quest, a local resident saw a cougar in the fringes of the G.R. Thompson Wildlife Management Area in the summer of 2011. 

A trip to Sky Meadow can be combined with a further exploration of the flora and fauna of the Piedmont through a visit to the nearby Virginia State Arboretum (400 Blandy Farm Lane, Boyce VA) or just get your buzz on at the nearby Naked Mountain Winery (2747 Leeds Manor Rd, Markhan VA; www.nakedmtnwinery.com) or the dog friendly Barrel Oak Winery (3623 Grove Lane, Delaplan VA; www.barreloakwinery.com) that is, if you have enough hand sanitizer in the car to make your coon hound tolerable. 

Sky Meadow State Park 11012 Edmonds Lane, White Post VA 20144
(540)592-3556
For a detailed trail map and park information visit:
www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/sky.html