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