Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Trail
The Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park or Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Trail (sometimes abbreviated as W&OD Trail or W&OD and often simply referred to as "the WOD" (pronounced "wad")) is a very well-known and unusually shaped regional park in Northern Virginia . The specialty of the park is a paved path that was built on the route of the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad , which leads through densely populated cities and suburbs.
Although the park is 72 kilometers (45 miles) long, it is only around 30 meters wide. The paved path is almost three meters wide and suitable for walking, jogging, cycling and inline skating. A gravel path for riding runs parallel to the paved path for 52 km.
The trail begins on the border of Arlington County and the city of Alexandria, VA , at Exit 6 of Interstate 395 in Shirlington. The trail connects at its origin with the paved Four Mile Run Trail, which runs east through Arlington along an estuary where it meets the Mount Vernon Trail at Ronald Reagan National Airport near the Potomac River . This is also the lowest altitude on the entire path (42.98 m).
Most of the trail parallels the Potomac River and Virginia State Route 7. It heads northwest to Purcellville, Loudoun County, u. a. through Arlington , Falls Church , Fairfax County , Vienna, Reston, Herndon, Sterling , Ashburn , Leesburg , Paeonian Springs and Hamilton .
Most of the trail also runs alongside a Dominion Virginia Power power line. The path reaches its highest point (185.93 m) at the summit of Clarks Cap in Catoctin Mountain, west of Leesburg. Nearby (Mile 38.2) the trail goes under an old stone flyover that once led Virginia State Route 7 over the railroad.
The Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (NVRPA) manages and maintains the park and its trails. NVRPA maintains much of the park's surroundings in its natural state. Alongside the path, some information boards have been set up describing the historical and natural features of the park.
Web links
- Official site of the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority about the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park
- Friends of the W&OD
- Friends of the W&OD: Map of the W&OD Trail with distance information
- Friends of the W&OD: altitude information and map of the W&OD Trail
- Washington & Old Dominion Trail on BikeWashington.org
- Unofficial page about the Washington & Old Dominion Trail ( Memento of March 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- Washington & Old Dominion Trail with descriptions of the sections and distances
- Map showing the route