This 3.75 to 4 mile hike took place on Friday, October 7, 2022. It was just
me on this one.
Awhile back I had done the Huntley Meadows Boardwalk off of Lockheed BLVD a
few times.
And I went and viewed the outside of the Historic Huntley House the last time
that I was here. So today I decided to go and hike the 1.2 mile in, 1.2 mile
out Hike/Bike Trail at the area of Huntley Meadows Park that is off of S Kings
HWY in Alexandria, VA.
I left Manassas, VA at around 10:15AM and got to the trailhead parking around
11:15. I then started the hike. It was warmer than I expected today. I wish that I had worn one of my trademark bandanas. There are no restrooms on this
trail so if
you gotta go, you gotta go in the woods. The trail was all asphalt, very level
and easy to walk. It must have been an old road or rail line at one point
because it was very straight and long. I decided to take the Pond Trail on the way to the wetlands.
This added .4 miles to the hike. This portion of the trail was dirt. It was
supposed to go around a pond but the pond appeared to be all dried up.
When I got to the observation deck there was no one else there. So I just sat
there for a bit and took it all in. Eventually two ladies showed up. Then a
group of three more ladies showed up. "This is nice.", I thought. But I had
to move on. There were two gated trails right before the observation deck.
The one on the right was called the Restoration Trail. It looked like it had
been graveled just recently. It added .3 miles up and .3 miles back to the
distance. So I walked it to the end and was treated to a different view of the
wetlands as well as some pretty flowers that looked a lot like Lazy Susans.
It's interesting that the gated trail to the left just before the observation
deck was not shown on the park map or on Google Maps. However, it was shown
on the AllTrails app. So I explored it. It also looked to be .3 miles up and
.3 miles back. However, it was mostly tall grass, dirt and bearly
discernable. It's a good thing that I
wore long pants today as my legs would have been scratched and bitten. I'm
not sure if this
trail has been abandoned or if it is a future project for Fairfax County Park
Authority.
I hiked it until it ended at the edge of the wetlands. I could see two people
taking photos of the flora/fauna about 50 feet away. And I could see the
boardwalk of the other trail off of Lockheed BLVD about 100 feet away. It
would be nice if they
could connect this trail to the other set of trails off of Lockheed BLVD. I
will have to investigate this.
So I started back to my vehicle. After adding up all the up & backs and
the Pond loop I came up with a distance of somewhere between 3.75 and 4 miles.
The ride home was terrible. It looked like rush hour started at 1:00 PM
today. A lot of people must have snuck out of work early. Shame on them!
If I were still working I would probably be doing the same thing. This was a
nice hike. I think that it would be a good one for the POPUMC Hiking Group.
Mike C
Map of where I hiked
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Sign at entrance.
By Mike Calabrese
Hike/Bike Trail.
By Mike Calabrese
Boardwalk.
By Mike Calabrese
From observation platform.
By Mike Calabrese
View of wetlands.
By Mike Calabrese
Restoration Trail.
By Mike Calabrese
Gate @ Restoration Trail.
By Mike Calabrese
View, Restoration Trail terminus.
By Mike Calabrese
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