The Muschette Trail is one of a pair of very short loop hikes that take off from the Pine Grove Picnic Area in Virginia’s Prince William Forest Park (the other is the wheelchair-accessible Piedmont Forest Trail). There’s not much to it – except an opportunity to stretch your legs and explore the area’s piedmont forest. …
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The Piedmont Forest Trail is the only wheelchair-accessible hike in Virginia’s Prince William Forest Park and, with its numerous curves, looks something like an amoeba or an octopus on maps. Situated steps from the Visitor Center and Pine Grove Picnic Area, it is an easy and convenient walk in the hardwood forest for which the trail …
Continue reading Piedmont Forest Trail (Prince William Forest Park, VA)
Live and Let Hike hit its stride in 2016, nearly tripling the number of visitors and page views seen in 2015. I also passed a new milestone—my 200th blog post—and greatly expanded the geographic breadth and depth of hike descriptions, including posts from Colorado, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, DC, and Quebec. Taking a break …
- Revolutionary War Series - Forming a 1.1-mile circuit starting and ending at the Visitor Center, I’ve dubbed this hike in Virginia’s Prince William Forest Park—for lack of a better label—as the “Visitor Center Loop.” This is an ideal walk for those looking for a short and convenient stroll near the park entrance—perhaps an afternoon …
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- Civil War Series - Occupying prime position atop a high hill in northern Washington, DC, Fort DeRussy was mostly quiet during the Civil War. But for two days in July 1864—when Confederate General Jubal Early’s Second Corps attacked the city, the war’s only raid on Washington—the artillerymen at the fort unleashed more than 100 …
The Edge of the Woods Trail is a short, wheelchair-accessible path in Rock Creek Park, starting and ending at the Nature Center. Along the way are interpretive signs on the area’s flora and fauna, but there’s not much to see besides woods and a very small meadow. The hike The Nature Center is a popular …
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More than a dozen hiking trails crisscross northern Virginia’s Sky Meadows State Park, situated on the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains—and there is perhaps no better hike in the park than the moderately strenuous circuit described here. Scenic vistas abound as hikers make their way up South Ridge, head northeast along a section …
Continue reading South Ridge-Ambassador Whitehouse Trail Loop (Sky Meadows State Park, VA)
Situated in Rock Creek Park’s wild northern section, the Pine-Holly Loop traces a 1.5-mile circuit in the woody pocket between the creek and 16th Street in Washington, DC. Although the scenery is modest, this short hike is easily accessed by city dwellers, beginning and ending at 16th and Holly, located on the well-trafficked bus line …
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Maryland’s Sugarloaf Mountain, the area’s best known example of a monadnock, features a network of zigzagging trails, just an hour’s drive from Washington, DC. While climbing Sugarloaf itself is the park’s key attraction, the Blue Trail (a.k.a. Northern Peaks Trail) triples the fun with rocky climbs to three nearby summits, plus a short detour to …
Continue reading Northern Peaks Trail & White Rocks (Sugarloaf Mountain, MD)
The area between Virginia’s Sky Meadows State Park and West Virginia’s Harper’s Ferry boasts a section of the Appalachian Trail (AT) billed as the “Roller Coaster,” one of the AT’s toughest, up-and-down grinds. This 5-mile out-and-back to Raven Rocks covers a piece of the Roller Coaster, a hilly affair that ends at a scenic vista …
Continue reading Appalachian Trail to Raven Rocks (North Blue Ridge area, VA/WV)
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