NATURE, HISTORY AND HORTICULTURE IN FAIRFAX COUNTY
VOLUME 8, NO. 2 SPRING 2008
An IABC Silver Inkwell and AMPC MarCom Award and Hermes Creative Award-winning publication
Diamonds in the Suburbs Explore the small parks near your home.
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here are diamonds in Fairfax County — bright, shiny specks of nature, history, culture and fun. They are small parks managed by the Park Authority’s Resource Management Division. No staffers are there on a regular basis, but the grounds are open for you to enjoy. Here are some of them.
Scott’s Run Nature Preserve (www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/resources/archives/ scottsrun.htm) 7400 Georgetown Pike in McLean Scott’s Run begins under the parking lots of Tyson’s Corner Shopping Center. It ends at the preserve as a beautiful creek spilling over a waterfall right before it enters the Potomac River. Along its journey, the stream flows through business parks and condominium complexes before becoming a place of splendid beauty. There are rare and fragile spring wildflowers at the preserve, and remarkable species grow along precipitous cliffs and in steep valleys. Hiking is rewarding, but can be challenging. Trails down the bluffs to the Potomac River are sheer in many places. There’s no swimming in the park because of pollution from upstream. Some wildflower poachers have removed fragile flowers, including the site’s only stand of yellow lady-slipper orchids, one of the rarest and most beautiful plants in Fairfax County. Go there, but please, preserve it.
Ox Hill Battlefield Park (www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/gmp/oxhillgmp.pdf) Monument Drive and West Ox Road, Fairfax At Ox Hill, you can see land where more than 2,100 troops were killed or wounded during a torrential thunderstorm. In the only Civil War battle that took place in Fairfax County, 4,000 Union and 15,000 Confederate troops clashed on September 1, 1862. The Confederates were trying to block a Union retreat one day after the Second
Tumbling Scott’s Run
Battle of Manassas. The storm prevented the use of small arms and forced hand-to-hand combat in a chaotic battle that ended as a stalemate. Among those in blue who fell were Brigadier General Isaac Stevens and Major General WHAT’S INSIDE . . . Philip Kearny, whose memorials can be seen in the 4.8-acre park. Spring Events ................ 2 As a result of Ox Hill, General Park Foundation ............ 3 Robert E. Lee decided not to pursue the Union Army into forStewardship .................. 4 tifications around Washington. Farm Preschool .............. 5 Instead, he crossed the Potomac IMA Super Kids ............. 6 into Maryland, a decision that led to the bloodiest one-day Monarch Butterflies ....... 7 battle in American history. That Backpack Trails .............. 8 confrontation at Antietam on Partnerships .................. 9 September 17th changed the Archaeology ............... 10 course of the war and led to the issuance of the preliminary Awards ........................ 11 Emancipation Proclamation. Great Parks ................. 12 continued on page 9
p Fairfax County Park Authority • Fairfax, VA 22035 • 703-324-8695 • FAX 703-324-3996 • TTY 703-803-3354 • www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/resources