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twbcom · 4 years

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INDEX:

Occoquan to Silverbrook Road

Silverbrook to Pohick Road

Pohick Road to Hoos Road

Hoos Road to Byron Ave. Park/Ebbets Field

Byron Ave Park (Ebbets Field) to Lake Accotink Park

Lake Accotink to Wakefield Park

Wakefield Park to King Arthur Drive

King Arthur Drive to Thaiss Memorial Park

Thaiss Memorial Park to OakMarr

OakMarr to Vale Road

Vale Road to Lawyers Road

Lawyers Road to Hunter Mill Road (W&OD Trail)

W&OD Trail to Colvin Run Mill

Colvin Run Mill power plant to Great Falls

Happy Trails: The Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail

As one of the fortunate ones who could work from home during the pandemic, I took to hiking the trails by our Fairfax County home, and my husband and I eventually hit upon the idea of traversing the 41-5-mile Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail. Walking the whole trail, even in weekend increments, gave us a sense of progress that went a long way toward breaking the day-to-day monotony of otherwise staying at home.

It turned out to be a good choice. Cobbled together from existing trails and connecting routes, the 41.5 -mile Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail spans Fairfax County, from the Occoquan River in the south to Great Falls on the Potomac to the northwest. It’s a mixed bag of hilly dirt trails with lots of rocks and tree roots, gravel paths, paved asphalt, suburban neighborhoods and major thoroughfares with heavy traffic.

Although the CCT was named for Gerry Connolly, who championed the trail as Providence supervisor and later as chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, it was conceived by citizens and represents a collaboration among numerous Fairfax County groups and government entities.

In the late 1990s, Bill Niedringhaus of McLean realized that except for a few gaps, there was a ribbon of public green space winding from one end of the county to the other. He formed Fairfax Trails and Streams in 1998 and proposed linking existing Fairfax County Park Authority trails together with other public lands owned by the National Park Service, Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, the city of Fairfax and Reston. It took years of collaboration among officials, citizen groups and volunteers, but the trail was completed in December 2005.

Because it was created by cobbling together existing trails, the CCT is incredibly varied. It is true that almost everywhere on the trail there are a lot of downed trees and underbrush, but the CCT also has a lot of diversity – of trail surfaces, of terrain, of bridges and of other stream crossings. Even the CCT markers have different styles.

And there’s history from one end to the other. Two of the three creeks that the CCT winds around, Pohick and Accotink, are Algonquin words, named for the Indigenous people who lived in Virginia before Jamestown was settled in 1609.

Across the 41.5-mile trail, there are landmarks, streets and trail markers that are sort of pop-up reminders of the archaeological layers of Fairfax County history.

As I posted photos on social media, I got queries from friends asking exactly where they were. I’m clearly not the only one looking for new places to walk.

There are lots of online maps and resources to the CCT, but some are not logically organized, hard to follow or out of date. I decided to write a guide to the CCT that includes practical information by segment and some history to be discovered along the way.

Segments are defined so there is parking on each end, either in a lot or on the street. We took out-and-back hikes, covering each section twice, but you could also walk from point to point if you have transportation at either end. If you’re walking out-and-back segments and one segment is too long, you can also walk halfway from the southern point one time and walk back from the northern point another time. And I listed the flood and mud potential because there are parts that are probably best avoided after big rains, unless you’re a mud-seeking mountain biker.

The CCT divides naturally into three zones – South, Central and Western – with dividing lines at the Fairfax County Parkway and at Jermantown Road near OakMarr Rec Center. The Central section is flatter than the other two and includes tighter green spaces, more pavement, more city streets, more Little League fields and more traffic.

But there’s something to recommend for each section. I hope this guide encourages you to enjoy it.

#main #index

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twbcom · 4 years

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CCT: Colvin Run Mill power plant to Great Falls

Length: 3.75-4 miles each way

Parking: Colvin Run Mill power plant; Difficult Run Parking Lot on Georgetown Pike (Rte. 193) about a mile from the end of the trail off Georgetown Pike

Terrain: dirt trail, mostly flat but with some fairly steep hills

Suitable for: Walking, trail running, mountain biking, horses

Flood/mud potential: very muddy after rain

FFX County Maps Zones 9 and 10

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/trails/cct-9-difficult-run-stream-valley.pdf

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/trails/cct-10-difficult-run-stream-valley.pdf

http://restonpaths.com/ColvinRunLeighMill/index.htm

http://restonpaths.com/OldDominion/index.htm

http://restonpaths.com/GreatFallsDifficultRunTrail/index.htm

Note: It’s worth checking a map of this part of the trail ahead of time because there’s a stretch just before the mile mark where the trail splits. The horse trail (about a half mile) goes around the end of Brian Jac Lane; the other one (about a quarter mile) crosses Brian Jac Lane. The two paths connect again but both are considered the CCT, depending on what map you read. (The Fairfax County overall CCT map shows the long way; the Zone 9 map shows the path crossing Brain Jac Lane.)

This is a scenic part of the trail. Although it’s rocky, it’s fairly crowded with runners, hikers and mountain bikers. The path loosely follows Difficult Run Creek and includes a bridge, boulder stepping stones and a fairweather crossing. The trail goes along Leigh Mill Road for a stretch and crosses Old Dominion Drive and Georgetown Pike. In the last mile, between the Difficult Run parking lot and the Potomac, the path gets steep and overlooks Difficult Run Stream and its rocks and rapids.

The trail ends at the southern part of Great Falls, a National Park Service site and popular hiking spot. It’s south of the site of the Patowmack Canal, which George Washington envisioned as a waterway to the Ohio River Valley. Washington partially funded the canal, a one-mile canal that allowed barges to get around the falls. The canal operated from 1785 to 1830 but could not compete with the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, which operated on the Maryland side from 1831-1924 and eventually spanned 184 miles.

#FairfaxCCT #Colvin Run Mill power plant to Great Falls

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twbcom · 4 years

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CCT: W&OD Trail to Colvin Run Mill

Length: 3.75 miles each way

Parking: Small lot (four or five spaces) at Hunter Mill Road and Hunter Station Road) and a lot at the Colvin Run Mill power station (Leesburg Pike)

Terrain: dirt trail, mostly flat

Suitable for: walking, running, mountain biking

Flood/mud potential: very muddy and easily flooded

FFX County Maps Zone 8 and 9

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/trails/cct-8-reston-wod-trail.pdf

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/trails/cct-9-difficult-run-stream-valley.pdf

http://restonpaths.com/ColvinMill/index.htm

Note: This stretch starts on a flat, paved part of the W&OD Trail used by walkers, runners and especially cyclists, many of whom are in serious training. If you’re hiking, stay to the right, or better yet, walk on the dirt/gravel path along the paved trail.

This section is widely varied, with parts on the W&OD Trail, wooded areas backing wealthy neighborhoods, fields and meadows, and a concrete jungle under the Dulles Toll road. You cross Difficult Run Stream several times, on bridges and on concrete column fairweather crossings and enormous boulder stepping stones at Browns Mill Road. Near the northern end of this section by Leesburg Pike is Colvin Run Mill.

While not technically on the CCT, Colvin Run Mill is worth a stop. Built in 1811, it is the only operational 19th-century water-powered mill in the D.C. area. Even though it’s closed during the pandemic, you can see how water ran down the race to the water wheel from the outside. The mill was abandoned in the 1930s but was restored by the Fairfax County Park Authority and is open to the public.

Colvin Run Mill

#FairfaxCCT #Hunter Mill Road to Colvin Run Mill

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twbcom · 4 years

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CCT: Lawyers Road to Hunter Mill Road (W&OD Trail)

Length: 2.4 miles each way

Terrain: narrow dirt and paved trail

Suitable for: Walking, trail running, biking/mountain biking.

Flood/mud potential: Mud, not flood.

Notes: Though you can’t always see Difficult Run River, this stretch of the CCT loosely winds by it, and you cross it several times.

FFX County map Zone and 8.

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/trails/cct-8-reston-wod-trail.pdf

http://restonpaths.com/CCTLawyers/index.htm

http://restonpaths.com/TwinBranchesCCT/index.htm

This segment runs on the Turquoise Trail and runs along Difficult Run stream and crosses Twin Branches Road. There are some rolling hills and one steep one, with a couple of markers for wildflower meadows. On the northern end, the CCT joins the W&OD Trail, a popular biking trail for cyclists of all levels. The W&OD Trail has a gravel/dirt footpath next to the paved path. If you’re walking, it’s a good idea to walk on the footpath, especially if the trail is full of cyclists.

This stretch is entirely in Reston, the planned community founded in 1964 by Robert Simon to include green spaces, residential neighborhoods for various incomes, and commercial development. The path by Lawyers Road is a rugged dirt path, but much of this trail is paved, mostly flat but with a few hills.

The well-traveled W&OD Trail, technically the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park, is a 45-mile-long narrow strip that runs along the old tracks of the W&OD Railroad. The trail and park run from Shirlington (Arlington) to Purcellville; the railroad ran from 1859 to 1968 from Alexandria to Purcellville. At Hunter Mill Road, there’s a historical marker describing the spot as a crossroads to war. During the Civil War, the junction of Hunter Mill Road and the Alexandria, Loudon and Hampshire Railroad served as a crossroad to both Union and Confederate troops moving between Vienna and Leesburg, Brigadier General Wade Hampton’s Confederate troops passed through on the way to Antietam in 1862, and several Union troops passed through on their way to Gettysburg in June 1863.

#FairfaxCCT #Lawyers Road to Hunter Mill Road

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twbcom · 4 years

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CCT: Vale Road to Lawyers Road

Length: 2.11 miles each way

Parking: Street parking on both ends – not many spots

Terrain: Narrow dirt trail

Suitable for: hiking, trial running, horses

Flood/mud potential: muddy

FFX CCT Zone 7

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/trails/cct-7-difficult-run-park.pdf

http://restonpaths.com/CCTVale/index.htm

http://restonpaths.com/CCTLawyers/index.htm

Note: There’s one stepping stone crossing across the Difficult Run tributary that is long, uneven and probably not passable after major rains when the water level is high. It’s about a half-mile from Lawyers Road.

This hilly section through the Oakton green space winds close to Difficult Run River for much of the way, past Gabrielson Gardens Park and a horse farm. You can see hoof prints on the trail, if not horses. About a half mile from Lawyers Road, there is a stepping stone crossing across a wide Difficult Run tributary that is uneven, slippery when your shoes are muddy, and may not be passable if the water level is high.

#FairfaxCCT #Vale Road to Lawyers Road

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twbcom · 4 years

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CCT: OakMarr to Vale Road

Length: 4.41 Miles

Parking: Lot at OakMarr Park and on the street at Vale Road. There’s a stretch along Miller Heights Road, where there’s street parking.

Terrain: Hilly dirt path

Suitable for: Hiking, trail running, mountain biking

Flood/mud potential: Mud.

FFX CCT Zone 7

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/trails/cct-7-difficult-run-park.pdf

http://restonpaths.com/CCTOakMarr/index.htm

http://restonpaths.com/CCTVale/index.htm

Notes: This section starts the Western zone of the trail, which picks up Difficult Run Creek to Great Falls. It’s a long dirt trail, with parking limited to street parking on the roads it crosses. If it’s too far, you can start at either end and walk toward the middle.

This section consists of two long stretches of green space connected by a stretch of Miller Heights Road in the middle as it winds between neighborhoods on the western part of the CCT. For much of it, it feels as if you’re deeper in the woods than you really are, with trees and fern gullies near Difficult Run Stream. You cross a couple of Difficult Run River tributaries and right before Vale Road, there’s one crossing on makeshift stepping stones, which could be difficult after hard rains.

On the southern end of this section is OakMarr Park, and OakMarr Rec Center and golf course, named partially for Oakton and partially for John Quincy Marr, a Virginia militia company captain and the first Confederate soldier killed by a Union soldier in combat during the Civil War. Marr, who was one of Fauquier County's two delegates to the Virginia Secession Convention of 1861, initially opposed secession from the Union but ultimately voted for it, and was killed less than two months later at the Battle of Fairfax Court House, Virginia on June 1, 1861.

In June 2020, after the killing of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests nationwide, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors asked for a report listing a full inventory of Confederate street names, monuments and public places in Fairfax County and on Fairfax County-owned property. On September 14, 2020, the Board of Supervisors voted to remove a 1904 statue of Marr at the site of the old courthouse where he fell.

The Fairfax County Park Authority started to remove the names from several other facilities named for Confederate leaders such as Robert E. Lee and J.E.B. Stuart in 2019, and OakMarr is among the facilities with clear Confederate links, WTOP reported.

#FairfaxCCT #OakMarr to Vale Road

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twbcom · 4 years

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CCT: Thaiss Memorial Park to OakMarr

Length: 3.17 miles

Parking: Lots at Thaiss Park and Oakmarr Park and Rec Center, which is a couple hundred yards beyond where the trail heads back into the woods.

Terrain: Strictly city streets: From Pickett Road to Blake Lane to Jermantown Road

Suitable for: Walking or driving a car

Flood/mud potential: None

FFX County CCT Zone 6

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/trails/cct-6-accotink-stream-valley.pdf

http://restonpaths.com/CCTI66/index.htm

Note: This is the largest stretch of the CCT that’s strictly on city streets, and there is sidewalk the entire way.

This stretch of the CCT is the longest stretch of the CCT that’s completely on a heavily trafficked Fairfax County thoroughfare. It runs from Fairfax to Oakton, following Pickett Road as it turns into Blake Lane and then into Jermantown Road, crossing several major roads, including Arlington Boulevard (Route 50), Lee Highway (Route 29) and Chain Bridge Road (Route 123), crosses over Route 66 and also goes by a couple of parks, Blake Lane School Site Park and Borge Street Park, which are both on the south side of the road.

Although this stretch is largely commercial, there are a surprising number of old houses, apartments and condominiums along the way, and the houses and yards north of Route 66 are noticeably larger. It isn’t the most scenic part of the CCT; on the other hand, it was the only segment in which we spotted a green AMC Gremlin parked at an apartment complex.

#FairfaxCCT #Thaiss Memorial Park to OakMarr

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twbcom · 4 years

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CCT: King Arthur Drive to Thaiss Memorial Park

Length: 2.87 miles

Parking: On the Street at King Arthur Drive and in a lot at Thaiss Memorial Park, a Little League field. There is also parking at Eakin Community Park, about a mile from King Arthur Boulevard, if you’d rather park in a lot rather than on King Arthur Drive.

Terrain: Flat and paved.

Suitable for: Walking, running, biking, jogging, jogging strollers.

Flood/mud potential: Flood potential.

FFX CCT Zone 5

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/trails/cct-5-accotink-stream-valley.pdf

http://restonpaths.com/CCTProsperity/index.htm

This section follows a fairly straight path through the Accotink Stream Valley, the green space bordering the Camelot, New Hope, Pine Ridge and Mantua neighborhoods, from Annandale to Fairfax. The trail crosses major roads at Prosperity and Barkley Drives and connects several neighborhood parks, including Sally Ormsby Park, Karen Drive Park, Eakin Community Park and Mantua Park.

According to the 1995 Eakin/Eakin (Mantua)/Accotink Valley Park master plan, this area was part of the Northern Neck grants in the 1700s, with Henry Fitzhugh owning 746 acres centered approximately where Prosperity Avenue crosses Accotink Creek. (Today, by Prosperity Avenue, there’s a horse farm that has persisted, improbably, as suburbia closed around it.)

Accotink Stream Valley was probably used for tobacco farming and possibly dairy farming before growing grain in the early 19th century. Daniel McCarty Chichester applied for a mill seat in 1801. He produced 4,500 bushels of flour in 1820, the year he died, and the mill was no longer operating by 1839. You can still see the race, which channeled the water to power the water wheel to grind the grain. The Chichesters were a prominent Fairfax County family, and Daniel McCarty Chichester (1834-1897), apparently the grandson of the man who built the mill, was a Confederate veteran, lawyer, Zion Episcopal Church (now Truro Anglican Church) vestryman and superintendent of Fairfax County Schools.

Sally Ormsby Park is named for a longtime civic activist, 1996 Virginia Mother of the Year, 2006 Washington Post Citizen of the Year, and three-term board representative to the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District. and three-term board representative to the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District. She was the first recipient of the Fairfax County Park Authority’s Sally Ormsby Environmental Stewardship Award in 2007, a year before she died.

Eakin Community Park is named after LeRoy Eakin Sr. who donated 14 acres of land in 1951 to what would become the Fairfax County Park Authority’s first park.

#FairfaxCCT

#NOVAHiking #King Arthur Drive to Thaiss Memorial Park

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twbcom · 4 years

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CCT: Wakefield Park to King Arthur Drive

Length: 2.33 miles

Parking: At Wakefield Park Audrey Moore REC Center and on the street at King Arthur Drive.

Terrain: Flat and paved. Some stretches don’t have any shade.

Suitable for: Walking, running, biking, jogging strollers. Just off the CCT in this section is a mountain biking course called Meers.

Flood/mud potential: This is flat but doesn’t appear to get as marshy as other flat areas of the CCT.

FFX CCT Zones 4 and 5

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/trails/cct-5-accotink-stream-valley.pdf

http://restonpaths.com/CCTRoute236/index.htm

Notes: In nice weather, this section draws runners, walkers and cyclists of all levels. If you’re walking, it’s a good idea to stay to the right as much as possible.

This section follows Accotink Creek through Annandale, from Wakefield Park, paralleling the Capital Beltway and along the green space trail with bridges that cross the creek several times runs through Mill Creek Park. For much of this stretch, you can hear the cars on the Capital Beltway, whether you’re walking by power lines or are through the woods.

Between Wakefield and the Little River Turnpike, the trail parallels the Capital Beltway and a long row of power lines. The trail goes through some woods and around Americana Park, aka the Jim Micklewright Baseball Field, one of several Little League fields on the CCT, and under the cloverleaf of Little River Turnpike, Route 236. As the trail winds through woods along Accotink Creek, there’s a sign for Meers Access, a course of mountain biking trails and jumps in one section of the forest. The CCT goes under King Arthur Drive, but there’s an access path up to the street, where you can park.

This section crosses Wakefield, which is named for Wakefield Chapel, a Methodist Church built in 1899 and named for its first preacher, the Rever and E.W. Wakefield. The chapel, which is south of the CCT, is owned by the Park Authority now and still used for weddings.

This stretch also goes under Little River Turnpike (Route 236), which was built between 1801 and 1806 as a privately owned toll road that ran from Alexandria to the “Little River” in Aldie in Loudon County. The road became a public road in 1896.

#FairfaxCCT Farifax County NOVAhiking #Wakefield Park to King Arthur Drive

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twbcom · 4 years

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CCT: Lake Accotink to Wakefield Park

Length: 2.64 miles (plus extra at Wakefield to get to the trail if you park there)

Parking: Lake Accotink main lot and Wakefield Park Audrey Moore Center. (Note: If you park at Wakefield, you’ll have to take a CCT spur, because the trail runs across the far side of Wakefield Park.)

Terrain: Mixed – hilly dirt path around the lake, and flat, paved trail by Accotink Creek and on to Wakefield Park.

Suitable for: Walking, running, mountain biking (by lake Accotink)/street biking (by Wakefield). There are long stretches with very little shade.

Flood/mud potential: The paved part may flood; the hilly part may get muddy in spots, but the trail is pretty wide the whole way.

FFX CCT: Zone 3 and 4

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/trails/cross-county-trail/maps

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/trails/cct-4-wakefield-trail.pdf

http://restonpaths.com/CCTLakeAccotink/index.htm

Note: The trail runs through Wakefield Park but not by the parking lot, so if you park there you have to take a CCT spur to the Audrey Moore Rec Center parking lot.

This path runs along the hilly, eastern side of Lake Accotink (and north Springfield back yards) and a flat stretch along Accotink Creek. Lake Accotink is a shallow lake with turtles, frogs, heron and other wildlife; there’s even a bald eagle nesting area on the other side of the lake. The northern part of the lake turns to marshland, and the trail is flat and paved. North of the lake, the trail parallels a large row of power lines and under Braddock Road to Wakefield Park. The CCT goes straight through the park, part of the Wakefield MTB Trail System. There are several paths you can take to go to the Audrey Moore Rec Center, parking, tennis courts, skateboard park and more.

This section of the CCT goes under Braddock Road, a major Fairfax County/Loudon road also known as SR 620. Parts of Braddock Road were established by Indigenous people before the British colonized northern Virginia. Braddock Road, named for the route believed to be taken by English General Edward Braddock’s forces during the French and Indian War, was rerouted several times, and it’s unlikely that the current road is the actual route taken by part of Braddock’s forces.

#FairfaxCCT FairfaxCounty NOVAhiking #Lake Accotink to Wakefield Park

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twbcom · 4 years

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CCT: Byron Ave Park (Ebbets Field) to Lake Accotink Park

Length: 1.84 miles

Parking: Lots on both ends. Accotink has two parking lots but this is measured to the second, main lot with the boat rentals, mini golf and carousel. There’s a snack bar, picnic areas, bathrooms and a drinking fountain at this lot, as well.

Terrain: Flat, paved path

Suitable for: Walking, running, bikes, jogging strollers.

Flood/mud potential: Flat and easily flooded.

FFX CCT Zone 2 and 3

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/trails/cct-2-accotink-stream-valley.pdf

http://restonpaths.com/CCT/index.htm

Note: This is a short, flat walk that’s easily combined with the stretch on the east side of the lake.

This wooded path winds around Accotink Creek, with two bridges that cross over the creek, to Lake Accotink. The path is flat and asphalt the whole way – a short, very easy stretch that’s suitable for street bikes, tricycles, wheelchairs and jogging strollers. This area is so flat, though, that it turns into a marsh after hard or long rains.

By the Lake Accotink dam at the northern end, there’s a railroad trestle and a historical marker that describes the site’s strategic importance during the Civil War. The original railroad trestle was built along Accotink Creek in 1851 as part of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, which connected central Virginia with the port of Alexandria. During the war, the Union troops gained control of the railroad early on, but Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart led a raid on Burke’s Station on December 28, 1862, in which he tore up the rails and cut the telegraph lines before withdrawing. He sent a dozen troops under the command of Fitz Lee to burn the railroad bridge. The Union rebuilt the trestle, but the Confederates – Major John S. Mosby’s Rangers and civilians – continued to tear up the track and otherwise derail the trains in nighttime raids to disrupt the troop and supply lines. Eventually, the 155th New York and 4th Delaware Regiments camped along the creek to protect the railroad and keep the supply lines going.

The trestle was rebuilt out of wrought iron in 1917, a year before the Springfield Dam was built, creating Lake Accotink. The railroad trestle has since been rebuilt out of concrete and steel, and the railroad tracks are still in continuous use, carrying Amtrak, VRE and freight trains.

#FairfaxCCT hiking #Byron Ave Park to Lake Accotink Park

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twbcom · 4 years

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CCT: Hoos Road to Byron Ave. Park/Ebbets Field

Length: 2.7 miles each way

Parking: There are a few parking spaces at the entrance of the trail at Hoos Road and there’s a parking lot at the Little League fields at Byron Ave. Park, off Old Keene Mill Road. Turn onto Byron Ave. next to the Church of Christ and drive past the ball fields.

Terrain: Some streets and some paved path. Mostly flat with some gently rolling hills.

Suitable for: Walking, Running, (street) biking, jog strollers.

Flood/mud potential: Large patches of the stretch could be easily flooded.

Zone 2 https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/trails/cct-2-accotink-stream-valley.pdf

http://restonpaths.com/CCTHunterVillage/index.htm

Notes: This is fairly flat but there are some rolling hills, and some stretches don’t have much shade.

The stretch of the CCT connects Pohick and Accotink Creeks and includes some stretches of suburbia as you cross the Fairfax County Parkway and Rolling Road (push the button at the crosswalk to get the light to change) and walk around the Daventry neighborhood, above the Fairfax County Parkway. There’s a bridge above Accotink Creek on the northern end of this section, near where the trail goes under Old Keene Mill Road.

Accotink, like Pohick, is an Algonquin name. Although creeks were often named for the largest Indian village on its shores, the Accotink village hasn’t been found, according to Fairfax County planning documents.

Many of the current houses in this zone were built in the decades after World War II, but this area was farmland dating back to the 1700s. Rolling Road, one of the major thoroughfares you cross in this segment, is so named because it was a tobacco rolling road, where farmers would roll hogsheads of tobacco from inland farms to ships or warehouses on the Potomac and Occoquan Rivers.

On the northern end of this segment is an underpass taking you under Old Keene Mill Road, named for the saw and grist mill James Keene built around 1796-1800, a couple of miles to the west.

And as you curve around Daventry Community Pool, you’ll find the Daventry Community Memorial, which honors neighborhood residents who died on September 11, 2001.

#FairfaxCCT FairfaxCounty #Hoos Road to Byron Ave

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twbcom · 4 years

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CCT: Pohick Road to Hoos Road

Length: 3.2 miles each way

Parking: On the street on Pohick Creek View. There are just a few parking spaces at the entrance at Hoos Road, off the Fairfax County Parkways and Whitler’s Creek Dr.

Terrain: Varied: dirt, rocks, tree roots, paved; hilly and flat, narrow and wide.

Suitable for: Walking, running, mountain biking.

Flood/mud potential: mud potential high.

FFX CCT Zone 1

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/trails/cct-1-pohick-stream-valley.pdf

http://restonpaths.com/CCTHooesRdSouth/index.htm

Notes: The northern part of this trail has six fairweather crossings – concrete pillar stepping stones across Pohick Creek and its tributaries. They are harder to navigate than bridges but easier than some of the other CCT stone crossings because they are solid and consistently spaced. Mountain bikers are able to use them to walk their bikes across waters too high to ride through. But if it’s really slippery out or if these crossings make you nervous, this may not be the best hike for you.

This section is on the southern end of the Pohick Creek Watershed, mainly winding around Pohick Creek and crossing it several times. On the southern part, the trail parallels Pohick Road, fairly flat and paved, with pretty views of the creek and some giant boulders. Toward Hoos Road, the trail is narrow and steep as it hugs some very steep back yards.

Pohick Creek and the Pohick Creek watershed are named for the Pohick, a tribe of Algonquin people who lived in this area. The word Pohick is derived from the Algonquian (Pohick language) word for the "water place." Pohick Creek and its tributaries flow from the Burke area southeast to Pohick Bay and eventually into the Potomac River.

From 1970-1985, several dams were constructed upstream from this stretch to prevent soil erosion and flooding of Pohick Creek tributaries. Six lakes -- Lake Braddock, Lake Barton, Lake Mercer, Lake Royal, Huntsman Lake and Woodglen Lake – were created, but the CCT doesn’t go by any of them.

#FairfaxCCT #Pohick Road to Hoos Road

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twbcom · 4 years

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CCT: Silverbrook to Pohick Road

Length: 1.5 miles each way

Terrain: Varied. The southern part is flat, paved and straight; the northern part is a narrow, winding dirt trail through the hills.

Suitable for: Walking, running, biking. The northern part by Pohick Road is full of mountain bikers.

Flood/mud potential: More mud potential than flooding.

Parking: Street parking off Silverbrook Road/White Spruce Way near the big Liberty sign; street parking on Pohick Creek View, which is a long cul du sac.

FFX CCT Zone 0 https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/trails/cct-0-laurel-hill-greenway.pdf http://restonpaths.com/CCTPohickSouth/index.htm

Notes: The CCT is generally well-marked, with posts marked CCT at most of the intersections where there’s likely to be a question. But this stretch has several intersections where it’s hard to tell the trail from the entrance/exit to a neighborhood, and it also appears that there are parts where the CCT markings haven’t kept up with the updates. There’s even a spot where the CCT turn is spray-painted on the pavement. Take a map if you can; even if it’s not perfectly updated it should give you a sense of where you are and where you need to end up.

This section of the CCT goes through some neighborhoods but is primarily in wide, wooded green space, making you feel like you’re deep into the forest. The trail picks up Rocky Branch Creek, crossing it once, just south of where Rocky Branch and South Run merge, and grazes the larger Pohick Creek.

This section of the trail goes deep into the green space, but the trail is wide and the hills fairly gentle. Although the CCT is generally free of litter, there’s a stretch here that used to be a dumping ground, and you can still see a few old car parts poking out of the brush.

#FairfaxCounty #FairfaxCCT Hiking #Silverbrook to Pohick Road

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twbcom · 4 years

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CCT - Occoquan to Silverbrook Road

Length: About 3.7 miles each way

Terrain: Hilly, almost all paved with some streets

Suitable for: Walking, running, bikes, jogging strollers

Flood/mud potential: low – paved trail

Parking: Parking lot at Occoquan Regional Park and on the street off Silverbrook Road/White Spruce Way, near the sign for the Liberty housing development, southeast of South County High and Laurel Hill Elementary School. For a shorter walk, you could park at the Workhouse Arts Center and walk east to Silverbrook or south to Occoquan.

Fairfax County CCT map Zone 0 https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/trails/cct-0-laurel-hill-greenway.pdf

http://restonpaths.com/CCTOccoquan/index.htm

http://restonpaths.com/CCTSilverbrookSouth/index.htm

Note: Different CCT maps show different routes around the Workhouse Arts Center – older maps go around the west, along Ox Road, and newer ones go to the east – but they’re about the same distance. Although this section is all paved, you can take a detour through the woods on the southern end of the trail, by Shepard Point overlook. (Heading north, you’ll see steps built into the ground going up to a dirt trail – a 2016 Eagle Scout project by Grant Gunther, according to a small plaque on one of the steps. Heading south, the trail starts just beyond Lorton Road.) Finally, the CCT Section around Lorton is the longest section of the trail with no shade; you may need sunscreen or a hat.

The southern end of the CCT is across the Occoquan River from Occoquan, which was a major port with an iron foundry and grain mills during the 1800s. The CCT side, for most of the 20th century (1910-1990s), was the Lorton Reformatory prison, workhouse and farm, established to house prisoners for the District of Columbia and expanded over the years until it covered 3,500 acres and spanned this entire section of the trail. You can still see the guard towers and other remnants of the prison all along the trail.

The CCT starts (or ends) at the Brickmaker’s Café, so named because there were nine brick kilns where prisoners would make red clay bricks used in buildings across northern Virginia and D.C. Toward the northern end of this section of the the trail, you walk under the Historic Barrel Bridge, which was built by Lorton prisoners using prisoner-made bricks.

One of the nine brick kilns is still standing, not far from the end of the trail, and there’s a marker nearby commemorating Alice Paul and other suffragists who were imprisoned at Occoquan for picketing the White House for the right to vote in 1917. Their imprisonment, force feeding and torture ended up being a catalyst for the passage of the 19th Amendment on August 26, 1920.

The Lorton Reformatory was so large that there was a railroad from one end to the other to move prisoners from where they lived to where they worked. Toward the northern end of the trail, near the Historic Barrel Bridge, is a boxcar that’s surrounded by a chain link fence and overgrown with weeds was once used to transport prisoners from one end of the prison to the other.

At the northern end of this section is Laurel Hill neighborhood. Before it was part of the prison, Laurel Hill was a 1,000-acre plantation owned by a Revolutionary War hero named William Lindsay. Lindsay was married to Ann Calvert, a great granddaughter of Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore, who founded Maryland. Lindsay was wounded in battle during the Revolutionary War and had a home built at Laurel Hill in the 1780s, where he lived as a gentleman planter. The home, which is south of the CCT and surrounded now by chain link fence, eventually became the home of the Lorton Reformatory superintendent.

When the prison closed in the 1990s and was sold to Fairfax County, the workhouse was turned into the Workhouse Arts Center, with art studios, galleries and performance spaces. On the northern end of this section is a new housing development called Liberty.

#FairfaxCCT FairfaxCounty #Occoquan to Silverbrook Road

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twbcom · 4 years

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