Horsepen Run (a.k.a. Horsepen Creek) is a modest stream winding through northern Virginia’s Loudoun and Fairfax Counties. Situated in the unincorporated community of Oak Hill—between the Dulles Toll Road and Interstate-66—the paved Horsepen Run Trail runs alongside the creek for 1.5 miles. To be honest, there’s not much to it—the stream, while pretty and calming …
Continue reading Horsepen Run Trail (Horsepen Run Stream Valley Park, VA)
This 4.6-mile ramble from Turkey Run Park to Scott’s Run Nature Preserve in McLean, Virginia constitutes the third section of the Potomac Heritage Trail heading westward from Rosslyn in Arlington. (Note: Descriptions of the two preceding sections—Roosevelt Island to Fort Marcy and Fort Marcy to Turkey Run Park—can be found here and here, respectively.) Despite …
Bearing westward from Rosslyn in Arlington, Virginia, Donaldson Run is the third notable tributary feeding into the Potomac River. Like its neighbors—Spout Run, Windy Run, and Pimmit Run—Donaldson Run cuts through rocky bluffs, with the last half-mile punctuated by minor but pretty cascades. The Donaldson Run Trail links the lengthy Potomac Heritage Trail, on the …
Continue reading Donaldson Run Trail and Loop (Arlington, VA)
Arlington, Virginia’s Windy Run Trail offers a brief, scenic jaunt with four creek crossings, culminating at the base of one of the Washington, DC area’s best waterfalls. Starting at N. Kenmore Street, the nearly half-mile trail drops more than 120 feet; most of it comes at the end, when the stony path descends a sandstone …
Live and Let Hike 