NATURE, HISTORY AND HORTICULTURE IN FAIRFAX COUNTY
VOLUME 9, NO. 3 FALL 2009
WHEELS IN THE PARKS By Carol Ochs, Park Authority Volunteer
Next time someone tells you to take a hike, think about getting on a bike instead.
W
hen it comes to transpor tation, there’s no better way to go green than bicycling, and what’s good for the environment is good for you, too. A 150-pound adult can burn nearly 300 calories on a leisurely half-hour ride. While it’s fun to take a spin around your neighborhood, if you’re ready for something new there are plenty of trails to discover in Fairfax County parks this summer and fall.
Burke Lake, Lake Accotink, Wakefield Park, Holmes Run, Sugarland Run and Cub Run are among the county parks with major bike trails. If you want a longer challenge, you can tour the county end-to-end along more than 40 miles of the Cross County Trail. It runs through some of the county’s most scenic areas.
There’s a catch, however, to riding bikes in the parks. You have to be nice. The Park Authority is responsible for stewardship of the parks and Ride to the parks, You’ll feel like a trailblazer on park bike paths. so are you. There are guidelines not just in them. in place to protect our natural and cultural resources. Fairfax County is bike friendly thanks to a comprehensive bicycle In the parks, stick to the established bike trails, bike only when initiative passed by the Board of Supervisors in 2006. Because of unpaved trails are dry, obey any signs, share the road and keep natural that initiative, maps are being drawn up, biking is part of planning, places natural. And wear a helmet. You’re a county resource, too. Fire and roads are being studied for bike lanes. The county offers more and rescue personnel urge bikers than 500 miles of trails that range in width from six feet to the to remember to carry ID — just newer ten-feet standard. in case! There’s a countywide bicycle route map. Bike lockers have popped Keep in mind the trails are for up at a couple of park-and-ride lots. There’s even a program to more than biking. Walkers and distribute helmets to children whose families cannot afford them. runners have the right-of-way. If The parks are full of bike trails that give riders a chance to dodge you should happen to spot a wildlife instead of traffic and hear the sounds of woodpeckers and horse along the trail, dismount bullfrogs instead of the blare of car horns. continued on page 11
INSIDE . . . Get Rid of Junk Mail
p Fairfax County Park Authority • Fairfax, VA 22035 • 703-324-8695 • FAX 703-324-3996 • TTY 703-803-3354 • www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/resources Fall 2009 1
EVENTS
NATURAL RESOURCE AND HISTORIC SITES BURKE LAKE PARK 7315 Ox Road, Fairfax Station Call 703-323-6600 COLVIN RUN MILL 10017 Colvin Run Road, Great Falls Call 703-759-2771 ELLANOR C. LAWRENCE PARK 5040 Walney Road, Chantilly Call 703-631-0013 FRYING PAN FARM PARK 2709 West Ox Road, Herndon Call 703-437-9101 GREEN SPRING GARDENS 4603 Green Spring Rd., Alexandria Call 703-642-5173 HIDDEN OAKS NATURE CENTER 7701 Royce Street, Annandale Call 703-941-1065 HIDDEN POND NATURE CENTER 8511 Greeley Blvd., Springfield Call 703-451-9588 HUNTLEY MEADOWS PARK 3701 Lockheed Blvd., Alexandria Call 703-768-2525
FALL EVENTS Master Gardener Training Tuesdays and Thursdays, September 10 to November 19, 1-4pm, Green Spring Gardens, 703-642-0128 (TTY 703-803-3354) Master Gardener status is attained in the first year by completing the training and 50 hours of volunteer service. $250
Sully Quilt and Fiber Arts Show and Sale September 13, 10am-4:30pm, Sully Historic Site, 703-437-1794 Our 36th annual fall event features new and antique quilts, other fiber arts and merchandise, antique linens and sewing tools, books and fabric on the grounds of the 1794 home of Richard Bland Lee. Quilting demonstrations, lectures and a door prize quilt, quilt appraisals, children’s activities and food. Rain or shine. House tour included. $9/adult, $8/senior, $6/child
LAKE ACCOTINK PARK 7500 Accotink Park Rd., Springfield Call 703-569-3464 LAKE FAIRFAX PARK 1400 Lake Fairfax Drive, Reston Call 703-471-5414
Need directions or more information? VISIT www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks.
Editor/Writer: Photos:
David Ochs Don Sweeney, FCPA David Ochs Production: Innovative Projects, Inc. Published quarterly by the Fairfax County Park Authority, 12055 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax, VA 22035-1118. Available at park sites and Fairfax County libraries. Visit ResOURces online at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/resources. c ResOURces is printed on recycled paper.
Scarecrow Making at Colvin Run Mill October 10, noon-2pm; October 11, 1-3pm, 703-759-2771 Make a new friend for your garden or lawn. Bring an outfit and a pair of old pantyhose for head and body. We’ll supply the stuffing. $6 per scarecrow
Farm Harvest Day at Kidwell Farm
RIVERBEND PARK 8700 Potomac Hills Street, Great Falls Call 703-759-9018 SULLY HISTORIC SITE 3650 Historic Sully Way, Chantilly Call 703-437-1794 HISTORIC PROPERTIES RENTAL SERVICES www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/weddings.htm Call 703-827-0609
Knock the stuffing into somebody at Colvin Run Mill.
October 17, 10am-3pm, Frying Pan Farm Park, 703-437-9101 Fall fun on the farm. Milk a goat, shell corn, peel apples and meet farm animals. Paint a small pumpkin, play farm games and see traditional farm demonstrations. $5 Color is entwined throughout Sully’s annual Quilt and Fiber Arts Show.
Catch the Buzz at Colvin Run Mill October 4, 2-4pm, 703-759-2771 Beekeepers Toni Burnham and Pat Standiford will talk about and demonstrate harvesting honey. Sample honey on cornbread made from our stone ground cornmeal. See a hive with live bees at work and take home a recipe using fresh ground cornmeal. $2
50th Anniversary of Sully’s Restoration October 25, 3pm, Sully Historic Site, 703-437-1794 Restoration Specialist and former Park Authority Special Projects Manager Michael Rierson tells the story of Sully’s total restoration during the 1970s. Reservations suggested. Refreshments included. $6
Colonial Day at Sully War of 1812 Living History October 10, 11am-4pm, Sully Historic Site, 703-437-1794 Drill with troops, watch cannon fire, learn about early 19th century medical practices, see foods cooked on the open hearth and learn the role of slaves in the War of 1812. House tour included. $8/adult, $6/senior or child
2 ResOURces www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/resources
November 7, 11am-4pm, Sully Historic Site, 703-437-1794 Experience a day in the 18th century and witness Revolutionary War soldiers in camp. See British and Colonial troops skirmish. Learn about textile production, cooking, tobacco trade and farm skills. House tour included. $8/ adult, $6/child
PA R K F O U N D AT I O N
Shop for Parks By Paul Baldino, Executive Director, Park Foundation
Help Fairfax County’s parks as you shop!
Start here: www.fairfaxparkfoundation.org/Shop-for-Parks.html
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ou can support Fairfax County parks as you shop for clothing, books, electronics, home and garden products, music, sporting goods, tools and hardware because the Fairfax County Park Foundation has linked with two of America’s top online retailers. Whenever you shop on Amazon.com, start your trip on the Park Foundation’s web page. When you sign on to Amazon through the Foundation website, a percentage of your purchase goes to the Foundation to improve parks and provide recreation program scholarships for low-income kids. Likewise, when you sell on eBay, go to the Park Foundation’s eBay Giving Works web page and designate 10% to 100% of your sales price as a donation. The amount you donate is tax deductible, and eBay will give you a credit on your selling fee for using the program. When you shop on eBay, look first on the foundation website for items that benefit the Park Foundation.
Here’s the place to start. Bookmark www.fairfaxpark foundation.org/Shop-for-Parks.html and use it whenever you shop on Amazon.com and sell or buy on eBay.
For more information on these programs and other ways that you can support Fairfax County’s parks, visit the Park Foundation’s website, www.fairfaxparkfoundation.org or call 703-324-8581.
If you’re thinking about selling or trading in a vehicle, use the same link to find out how you can donate your old car, truck, motorcycle or boat to the Park Foundation. The process is hassle-free, and you’ll get a tax deduction and the pleasure of supporting your beautiful parks.
The Fairfax County Park Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that helps pick up where tax dollars leave off in meeting community needs for park land, facilities and services. Contributions to the Park Foundation are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.
The Other Government Buy-Out Plan Buy it and send someone out to a park.
Fall 2009
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VISIT THE PARKS
40 and Fit Celebrating 40 years at Hidden Oaks Nature Center By Lori K. Weinraub, Park Authority Volunteer
A
hidden gem in the Fairfax County Park Authority family is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Tucked inside the Capital Beltway off Little River Turnpike in Annandale, Hidden Oaks Nature Center has seen a lot of changes since it opened in October of 1969 as the first of the county’s five nature centers.
where children are encouraged to touch things and get their hands dirty.
Hidden Oaks opened with one building, two paid employees and four parking spaces. More space was added over the years, along with more paid employees, more than 50 parking spaces and a low impact development parking lot. Visitors in the early years enjoyed free programs and got close to nature. They could actually handle blind owls and flying squirrels.
There is a lot to celebrate this year. Thanks to a $3,500 donation from the Bailey’s Crossroads Rotary Club, Hidden Oaks is getting a kid-proof microscope that children can use to make real slides. A children’s public art project is being sponsored by The Friends of Hidden Oaks. Children are drawing eightby-eight-inch pictures of a nature theme, their handprint or name, and the art is being reproduced as a ceramic tile to be added to the permanent wall in the foyer. The $20 cost for the tile supports Nature Playce. Holland says Hidden Oaks also hopes to have the National Wildlife Federation certify the greater Mason District Area as an official community backyard habitat this fall.
While Hidden Oaks has grown, it is not immune from financial realities. Programs are no longer free, and the programs themselves reflect different times. In the 1970s, you could learn about raising a raccoon or keeping a pet skunk. Today’s visitors are taught how to create wildlife habitats for butterflies and to test soil for an organic garden.
Most visitors then were local schoolchildren and scouts, but over the years Hidden Oaks has become multi-cultural. Written materials are translated into Korean. Vietnamese and Spanish are spoken to reflect the demographics in the community. Manager Michael McDonnell says it’s “very gratifying” to see children explain nature to their nonEnglish speaking parents. Another big change has been the notion of stewardship of nature, notes Assistant Manager Suzanne Holland, a firm believer in nurturing a lifelong connection to nature. Holland is the driving force behind the center’s Nature Playce, an outdoor play area 4 ResOURces www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/resources
The big party will be October 17. An enchanted trail walk will incorporate the best of Hidden Oaks (think Fearless Fest, only during the day). Staff also will be tagging the last of the monarch butterflies that will be migrating to Mexico, and then they’ll be looking ahead to the site’s next 40 years as an urban oasis of nature.
S T E WA R D S H I P / N AT U R A L R E S O U R C E S
New Barns Make Horse Sense at Frying Pan Farm Park By Lori K. Weinraub, Park Authority Volunteer It’s usually people who have all the fun when a Fairfax County Park Authority facility gets a new building. But this time, the horses win with the construction of two new barns at Frying Pan Farm Park. The barns will replace four old structures. The $3 million project was approved by Fairfax County voters in 2004. Chris Monson, the site’s assistant manager in charge of equestrian operations, says the facility should be completed in October, in time for the park’s biggest equestrian event of the year in November. Horses aren’t boarded at Frying Pan, but the stalls are essential for animals that travel to Herndon for a series of horse shows throughout the year.
Sticky, Purple Things Have you seen one of these purple things hanging in a tree? It’s a glue trap used to detect the emerald ash borer, an insect that kills ash trees. The traps help monitor the pest’s presence. For more information, call the Fairfax County Forest Pest Branch at 703-324-5304 or go online to www.fairfax county.gov/dpwes/environmental/eab_ general.htm.
The old barns were over 40 years old, open air and built on a slope. The stalls would often flood. “It was no secret that people didn’t like the stalls,” Monson said. “We would always hear complaints like ‘the ground’s too hard’ or ‘it’s always flooded.’” The new barns are being built on flat land and will be totally enclosed. Monson said they will contain 150 padded stalls with hot-and-cold running water and mats instead of rocks, as well as changing rooms and meeting spaces. The new stalls also will be bigger than the old ones. That means larger horses that couldn’t compete at Frying Pan before will now be able to do so. Monson expects the new barns to bring in more shows, and thus more revenue, for the park and its surrounding communities. The county plans to do a lot of advertising to get the word out that “Frying Pan Farm Park is the place to come for your horse show,” Monson said. He added that it will be a “positive experience” and that “this is a big deal for the horse world.”
Have a comment for or about ResOURces? Our email address is resources@fairfaxcounty.gov.
Reprint Articles Promote stewardship. Reprint ResOURces articles in your association newsletter. Go to ResOURces Online at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/resources/printpub.htm to pull articles. Let us know, and include “Reprinted courtesy of the Fairfax County Park Authority” with the article.
Fall 2009
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HISTORY/STEWARDSHIP
DIG INTO THE PAST Big farms, lots of dairies and cows, and a tight-knit community. That was Fairfax County, and not too long ago.
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ou can peek into history and step, carefully we advise, into the shoes of early 20th century dairy farm families through a new interactive, multi-media exhibit at Frying Pan Farm Park’s Visitor Center. “Dig into the Past,” which opened in June, shepherds you into the life of a Floris community farm in the 1930s. It was a time when farms depended heavily on family and community to survive. Frying Pan Historian Yvonne Johnson calls the exhibit “a blue ribbon showcase for the community stories.” The exhibit is a great opportunity for the pre-television generation to hook up with the social media generation and compare tales of “how we did it” with tweets of “how we do it.” The exhibit takes you through the steps of moo-ving milk from the cow to the
Phyllis Coates-O’Neill, 88, looks at Frying Pan’s new exhibit, which includes a photo of her in sixth grade.
The Frying Pan Visitors Center, a converted 1890s dairy barn, houses the new exhibit, “Dig into the Past.”
6 ResOURces www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/resources
HISTORY/STEWARDSHIP market, a process of long hours, heavy cans, boxes and bottling. Family members all played key roles in a farm’s success, and the duties of family members are detailed. Everyone had jobs, from the five-year-old who cleared the dining room table and the ten-year-old who helped milk cows to the wife who ran the house and the husband who marketed the farm’s products. The items in the exhibit that help showcase seasonal life on the farm range from early 20th century milk pails and washtubs to videos on a 21st century high-definition screen. Along the way, you’ll learn the proper use of the words cow, bull, calf and cattle, and you’ll learn there’s a lot more to getting a glass of milk than just opening the refrigerator door. The exhibit portrays the common man’s history in Fairfax County. “People who make history seldom recognize the significance of it while they’re doing it,” said Frying Pan Farm Park Manager Tawny Hammond at the exhibit opening. That’s certainly true of 88year-old Phyllis Coates-O’Neill, who was on hand for the exhibit ribbon-cutting ceremony
Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova (fifth from left) is joined by other county officials and dignitaries for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at Frying Pan Farm Park’s new exhibit, “Dig into the Past.”
75 years after she attended the Floris community school. Her sixth-grade class photo, now a piece of the park’s history, is on display in the exhibit.
Dairy farms were a major part of Fairfax County in the early 1900s.
Hunter Mill Supervisor Catherine Hudgins noted that the exhibit connects people to both history and themselves if they recognize what is in it. “It gives you time to just relax and breathe and enjoy,” she said.
Learn about cows and the marketing of their milk at Frying Pan’s new exhibit.
So come take a breather by visiting the new exhibit at Frying Pan Farm Park, and take a moment for a reminder of who and what we were.
Did you know that membership in the Friends of Frying Pan Farm Park is free? http://fryingpanpark.org/ Fall 2009
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RESOURCE PROTECTION
Remembering the Civil War Before there were Blue and Red states, there were Blue and Gray ones. The Civil War Sesquicentennial is coming. Fairfax County will mark the 150th anniversaries of local war events from 2011 through 2015. There’s information about preparations online at www.virginiacivilwar.org.
Dispersing Stewardship Like Pollen The newest addition to the Fairfax County Park Authority’s stewardship brochures is nothing to sneeze at. Learn what makes every flower unique by picking up the Pollen brochure at a county RECenter, nature center or historic site.
You’ll find an inventory of Civil War sites that are in Fairfax County at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/ resources/civilwarinventory.pdf. See the other stewardship brochures at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/ parks/resources/stewardshipbrochures.htm
Explore our Website You love the outdoors and want to reduce your carbon footprint. You want to know how to be a good steward of the environment and to learn about county parks and nature. WE’VE GOT A WEBSITE FOR YOU! There’s a page called Worms! It’s all about, well, worms! Keyword: “Worms”
Some of the pages on the Fairfax County Park Authority website may surprise you. Come explore them.
All back issues of ResOURces are online. Keyword: “Resources Newsletter”
Go to www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/ and type the keywords listed below into the Search box.
Colvin Run Mill’s website has a puzzle for kids. Keyword: “Kidz”
Did you know that you can find biking, jogging, equestrian, nature and hiking trail maps online? Keyword: “Trail Map”
Everything you wanted to know about Farmers’ Markets. Keyword: “Farmers Markets”
How many have you seen? Download and print a checklist of 191 species of birds that
County trail maps are online.
have been observed in Riverbend Park. Keyword: “Bird Checklist”
You can check an immature or female Red-winged Blackbird off your list if you see one of these.
Learn about the Accotink Creek watershed, the effect of storm runoff on Lake Accotink and the Chesapeake Bay, and about the small steps you can take to make our water cleaner. Keyword: “Accotink the Bay”
8 ResOURces www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/resources
Explore farmers’ markets online.
VOLUNTEERING
Think or Do You’ve thought about volunteering. Maybe you’re not sure what you could do. There are plenty of opportunities in Fairfax County parks, where volunteers gave over 196,000 hours of time in Fiscal Year 2008.
A Reflection of History Most mirrors reflect what is. This one reflects what was.
There’s likely something in the parks you’ll love to do, and it could even be your idea and your dream job. Check our website for volunteer opportunities. www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/volunteer.htm
Volunteers make things happen in the parks.
Here are some of the things our volunteers do: ❦ Teach about county heritage ❦ Sing ❦ Care for animals
❦ Help others stay fit
❦ Help with archaeological digs
❦ Manage golf play
❦ Lead nature programs
❦ Greet park visitors
❦ Preserve history
❦ Beautify park grounds
❦ Cultivate park gardens
❦ Office operations
❦ Protect natural resources
❦ Teach swimming
❦ Write See a need? Want to help? Contact a park manager and propose an idea or ask what needs to be done — or call 703-324-8750.
After almost 200 years, a late Federal-period looking glass has wound its way back to Sully Historic Site, the former home of Richard Bland Lee. Records indicate the mirror was owned by the family of Northern Virginia’s first congressman. Its whereabouts were unknown until a gentleman from South Carolina purchased it recently at auction and donated it to the Park Authority. You can see the mirror, and see yourself in it as the Lee family did, in the parlor at Sully Historic Site. You can see it online at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sullymirror.htm.
Fishing in County Parks The Spring/Summer issue of ResOURces carried an article about fishing in county waters, including such flood control lakes as Braddock, Huntsman, Mercer, Royal and Woodglen. Be aware that there is no public access to Lake Braddock as there is at the other lakes.
Fall 2009
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RESOURCE PROTECTION
Look What One Person Can Do! Teri Tucker eliminated over 60% of the unwanted mail at her Park Authority office.
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n the spring of 2008, Frying Pan Farm Park administrative assistant Teri Tucker was looking for a stewardship project she could, in her words, “do in my little corner.” Unwanted mail caught her attention. She asked staff to put all junk mail in a box for her with an X through the address label.
Tucker said her time commitment to the project was minimal, “maybe a half-hour weekly, and not every week.”
Tucker contacted the vendors who were sending the unwanted mail and asked that they remove Frying Pan from their mailing lists and that they not share or sell the site’s information. She tracked the results, and the chart below shows that her efforts are paying off.
JUNK MAIL SUMMARY
How about you at your home or office? Looking for a way to be a good steward of resources? Start a junk mail project!
200 ________________________________________ Pieces of Mail
180 ________________________________________ 174 Pounds of Mail
159 160 ________________________________________ 140 ________________________________________
By the end of the junk mail project’s first year, she’d reduced unwanted mail at Frying Pan by 30 pieces and almost seven pounds per month. That’s a 61% drop in the number of unwanted mailings and a 66% drop in material weight.
120 ________________________________________ 100 ________________________________________ 85 80 ________________________________________ 68 60 ________________________________________
Time Frame
Pieces Pounds Received Received
Mid April 2008 – July 2008
174
36.6
August 2008 – October 2008
159
21.0
November 2008 – January 2009
85
11.2
February 2009 – Mid May 2009
68
12.3
40 ________________________________________ 36.6 21 20 ________________________________________ 12.3 11.5
Teri Tucker with the 81 pounds and 486 pieces of junk mail Frying Pan Farm Park received during the first year of her junk mail project. Photo by Tawny Hammond
0 ________________________________________ 1 2 3 4 Approximate Quarter
This graph shows how the number of unwanted pieces of mail at Frying Pan Farm Park declined during each quarter of the junk mail project’s first year.
New Rain Garden Guide Available Had enough rain this year? Put a little of that water to good use. Make life, your landscape and the environment a little better with a rain garden. Learn how to plan, design, build and maintain one with the new booklet, Rain Garden Design and Construction: A Northern Virginia Homeowner’s Guide. It’s free and available from the Park Authority’s Resource Management Division in the county’s Herrity Building, Suite #936, 12055 Government Center Parkway in Fairfax. It’s also available through the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District and at special events. The guide is online at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/nvswcd/raingardenbk.pdf. You can see rain gardens at Riverbend Park, Green Spring Gardens, Hidden Oaks Nature Center and in other county parks.
10 ResOURces www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/resources
STEWARDSHIP/LEADERSHIP
Signs of Good Work in the Parks Kathy Frederick, the Park Authority’s Invasive Management Area volunteer coordinator, received a Director’s Leadership Award from Park Authority director John Dargle for her commitment to the annual Volunteer Fest. The Park Authority’s handbook about invasive plants has won a top-level Award of Excellence in the 2009 Communicator Awards sanctioned by the International Academy of the Visual Arts.
Park Authority Director John Dargle presents a Director’s Leadership Award to IMA Volunteer Coordinator Kathy Frederick.
Colvin Run Mill’s Mason Maddox is one of the first three people in the country to complete the miller training program sponsored by the Society for the Preservation of Old Mills. Over the past three years, Maddox has been involved in a curriculum of history, interpretation, power sources, food production and professional standards of operation for historic gristmills.
The Non-native Invasive ID and Control guidebook is available at Fairfax County Park Authority nature centers for $9.95 plus tax or by phone at 703-324-8580.
Mason Maddox in his element at Colvin Run.
Laurel Hill Golf Club is ranked #15 in Golfweek magazine’s list of the top 50 municipal golf courses in the United States.
BIKING continued from page 1 On The Web: Bike trail guidelines and major county trails: www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/bikes2a.htm The county’s bicycle page of maps and information: www.fairfaxcounty.gov/fcdot/bike/ Burke Lake trails and trail map: www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/burkelake/burketrails.htm Browse for county biking classes: www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/parktakes.htm Park signs and how to find your way around the parks: www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/ TrailManagement/trailmanagement.pdf. Commuting by bicycle: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/fcdot/bike/bikecommute.htm
Major Bicycle Trails BURKE LAKE PARK BICYCLE TRAIL — Lakeside trail, 4.68 miles, gravel. Entrance fee for non-Fairfax County residents on weekends and holidays, March – November. Call 703-323-6601 for more information.
and walk your bike. Bikes can scare horses and make them bolt. The county offers a variety of classes to help bicyclists get a better feel for their wheels. Check ParkTakes for classes on fitness, BMX and mountain biking. Still not sure whether biking is right for you? You can get a taste of the sport without making a major investment by renting a bike at Lake Accotink. Call the park for details at 703-569-3464.
ACCOTINK CREEK TRAIL — Stream valley trail, 2.5 miles of gravel and asphalt from Arlington Blvd/Rt.50 (0.8 miles east of Fairfax Circle) to King Arthur Road. Plans call for this trail to be extended to complete a continuous trail link to the Wakefield Accotink Trail system south of Little River Turnpike. WAKEFIELD PARK/LAKE ACCOTINK PARK TRAIL — Gravel trail, 5 miles, extending from the north side of Wakefield Park at Little River Turnpike/Rt. 236 to Highland Street just south of the park. Call Lake Accotink Park (703-569-3464) or Wakefield Park (703-321-7081) for information. HOLMES RUN TRAIL — Stream valley trail, 1.3 miles, gravel and asphalt. From Annandale Road (at the end of Hockett Street) to Sprucedale Drive (near Sleepy Hollow Road). LONG BRANCH TRAIL — Stream valley trail, 1.0 mile, gravel. From Braddock Road at Wakefield Chapel Road to Queen Elizabeth Blvd. (across from Candace Lane). SUGARLAND RUN TRAIL — Stream valley trail, 2.2 miles, asphalt bikeway. From Sugarland Road southward to Herndon Town line and Runneymead Park. SOUTH RUN TRAIL — Stream valley trail, 1.6 miles, asphalt bikeway. From Burke Lake dam southward, crossing Lee Chapel Road, leading to South Run RECenter. CUB RUN TRAIL — Stream valley trail, 2.1 miles, asphalt bikeway. From Rt. 29 northward to Honsenna Drive.
Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride. – John F. Kennedy Fall 2009
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12055 Government Center Parkway Fairfax, Virginia 22035-1118
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A Fairfax County, Va., publication
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EQUAL ACCESS/SPECIAL ACCOMMODATIONS
The Fairfax County Park Authority is committed to equal access in all programs and services. Special accommodations will be provided upon request. Please call the ADA/Access coordinator at 703-324-8563, at least 10 working days in advance of the date services are needed. ADA/Access Coordinator 703-324-8563 • TTY 703-803-3354 www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/ada.htm
HISTORIC PROPERTIES
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The Other Government Stimulus Plan Stimulate someone to visit a park!
Cabell’s Mill is one of eight historic sites in Fairfax County you can rent for any social occasion.
For costumed or contemporary weddings, family reunions, meetings or any gathering, rent one of Fairfax County’s beautiful historic properties. Cabell’s Mill in Centreville ❦ Clark House in Falls Church Dranesville Tavern in Dranesville Great Falls Grange in Great Falls ❦ Hunter House in Vienna Old Schoolhouse in Great Falls ❦ Stone Mansion in Alexandria Wakefield Chapel in Annandale Call 703-938-8835 or visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/weddings.htm.
SOMETHING SIMPLE YOU CAN DO TO BE A GOOD STEWARD: Skip the car ride. Walk or ride your bike to get there. 12 ResOURces www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/resources