Early one morning in the beginning of June, my boys and I left our house, sights set on Lake Fairfax. Our backpacks were stuffed with snacks and water, cameras and binoculars, gloves and containers to examine any interesting critters that happened to be found. We were set for a day in the woods, ready for adventure.
Great Egret
Lake Fairfax is a county run suburban park with many amenities. It has a lake with various types of fish, a water park, a skate park, picnic pavilions, sports fields, and camp grounds. It is easy to overlook as a local and turn to another park such as Great Falls or Riverbend, especially if you are looking to hike, but I highly suggest exploring it. Go beyond the obvious attractions and head into the woods where a thick web of trails awaits your discovery.
Over the years, my family and I have become intimately familiar with the park and trails as my sons' school has an annual cookout, and overnight camping trip there. I have also ventured into the woods to run frequently with a spirit of curiosity following each and every trail to simply to see where it leads. It has become one of our favorite nearby spots. It is perfect for children as there are many paths and creeks to explore with some pretty fun crossing spots (think- log crossings, stepping stones, etc.) The terrain isn't too technical or strenuous, and the walk could be as long or as short as you please.
That's one way to get to the other side!
Leopard Frog bathing in the creek
You could put together a pretty awesome itinerary for a day (and possibly an overnight):
Morning- Waterpark or fishing
Lunch- Picnic or barbecue
Afternoon- Explore the woods on foot or mountain bike
Evening- Head back home or set up camp
This particular June morning we used the boys' favorite campsite as home base. It has a rocky outcrop to clamber up and over and to picnic on, and a creek that runs through it. Perfect for frog hunting! The boys had so much success finding all kinds of animals and birds, we got some incredible photos, and had a lot of fun trying to identify all the animals we saw when we returned home.
Awww, look at the baby! So tiny!
Broad Nosed Skink
Male Wood Duck
American Toad
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
(Black form- female)
Momma Duck with her Ducklings
Great Blue Heron
Eastern Painted Turtles
Green Heron
Bullfrog says bye-bye!
Lots of trails to choose from (and MANY secondary trails that aren't on this map. Go explore!)
Hints on accessing the trails
From within the park you can access the trails from various points but the easiest to explain are: behind the group campgrounds, by circumnavigating the lake, or behind the athletic fields.
From outside the park one access point is via the path behind Uplands Pool (Google for directions) at the bottom of the hill turn left onto Buttermilk Creek Nature Trail. This takes you directly into Lake Fairfax (brown line right underneath 22 on map above). Another straight forward access point is to park in Life Time Athletic's (again Google for directions) parking lot around the right back side up against the woods, the trail entrance is right at the edge of the woods and boom, you are in Lake Fairfax (curvy part of 7 on map).
Feel free to contact me at wandererdmv@gmail.com if you have any questions!
Click here for Lake Fairfax's website
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