3 More Days on the Potomac Heritage Trail
Continuing the DMV’s National Scenic Trail
“It’s tempting to think of wilderness only as remote places, far from where people live and work. The Potomac Gorge defies that notion. It is, by any measure, a special place.” — National Park Service
Note: This is Part Two of my exploration along the 700+ mile PHT that connects a vast network of trails from the DC region to VA, MD, PA, and WV. Part One “3 December Days on the Potomac Heritage Trail” begins at Roosevelt Island across the Potomac River from Georgetown. Over three winter days, I leisurely walked north along the Virginia side of the Potomac past huge waterfalls, through forests and gorge ecosystems, under Chain Bridge, into Civil War Fort Marcy, and through the beautiful Northern Virginia parks of Windy Run Park, Potomac Overlook Regional Park, and Turkey Run Park — all minutes from downtown DC! Now, Part 2 continues my travels north from where I left off.
As always, all photos in these trip blogs are taken and copywritten by me, unless stated otherwise, and should not be reprinted without explicit permission by me, the author.
I won’t spend too much time here introducing the PHT. For the introduction and importance of this trail please visit Part One: “3 December Days on the Potomac Heritage Trail.” But after spending these three days exploring the beginning of the PHT — I was hooked!
When exploring / section hiking a new trail for the first time, I believe in purity and not missing one mile. So a year after finishing Day 3, I picked up Day 4 right where I left off — Turkey Run Park.
Day 1: Turkey Run Park to Scott’s Run Nature Preserve Loop — 5.6 miles
This first section is a little complicated so bear with me as we navigate where to park your car and how to get back to the PHT access point.
Because the PHT runs mostly along the Potomac riverbank (away from roads and through mostly park land), it can get a little tricky finding the best place to park your car to connect with different PHT sections. Hiking from Turkey Run Park to Scott’s Run Nature Preserve along the PHT is easy enough to do if you just park at Turkey Run Park and hike to Scott’s Run Nature Preserve along the PHT…
BUT — I wanted to pick up exactly where I left off Day 3 a year prior. So, I had to find parking in the neighborhoods around Turkey Run and hike along another side trail first to connect back down to the PHT.
Here’s a screen shot of where I parked — just to the south of Turkey Run Park and the GW Parkway. 833–801 Heather Brook Ct, McLean, VA 22101. There is a little cul-de-sac at the end of Heather Brook Ct where a couple cars were parked and I easily parked there for hours with no problem.
We then walked up the street away from the cul-de-sac toward a side street on the left that was closed to car traffic (not closed to foot traffic) with a metal gate. Walk down this closed street and you’ll quickly come to a trail on your right that leads into the woods. Take this trail briefly until you come to a fork, take a left until you hit another fork, and take another left. These trails won’t show up on Google Maps but they will on Strava, Gaia GPS, All Trails and other trail apps.
Here’s a screenshot of what I did, courtesy of Strava. The green dot is my starting point. This screenshot is zoomed out from the previous one to show the first few turns in the trail leading to Dead Run creek.
Here are photos from the first couple points —1) the closed gate over the road that you’ll see from Heather Brook Ct (this is looking back at the gate from down the closed road), 2) the first access point to the trail on the right from this closed road, 3) keeping to the left when the trail splits (twice).
It seems complicated but it’s really not and the trail is very clear and well worn. You’ll get through all these spots within 10–15 minutes. Just use a trail tracking app like the three I mentioned previously and you’ll see exactly where you are on the map. The goal is to get under the GW Parkway (as seen in this photo) and across a little creek named “Dead Run.” (Dead Run shows up on Google Maps.) Here’s a picture of where you should wind up after this first set of instructions.
Make sure you cross the creek here— easy with waterproof boots; only a few inches deep in most places with nice well-placed rocks to hop across. If you don’t cross the creek and rather continue along to the right side of the creek, you will be taken up and back into the trail system of Turkey Run Park — which is nice but will take you away from the PHT.
*Note: As you learned in my PHT Part One post, there are a bunch of these little creeks and streams that feed from higher ground all over northern Virginia down into the Potomac River. They make rugged and stunning natural features as they carve the landscape and ramble over rocks. Some create multi-story waterfalls at the edge of the river that you see as you hike along the PHT. And since the GW parkway travels over these creeks and streams from above, there’s usually a bridge spanning the hiking trail that makes for cool photos.
Once across the creek, turn right under the bridge and keep the creek on your right-hand side as you follow it the rest of the way down to the Potomac from here.
Marking this part of the trail are yellow blazes on the rocks and trees (yellow vertical paint marks).
It gets rocky so watch your step! There’s also a small rock scramble at the end that passes a beautiful little cascading waterfall (see: photo at the beginning of this Day 1 section). Keep hugging the rocks along the yellow blazed trail to the left side of Dead Run creek the whole way until you reach the edge of the Potomac riverbank and hit the green blaze — the indicator that you are now back on the Potomac Heritage Trail!
*Note: the majority of the PHT is blue blazed. But, as noted in my Part One blog, there are a few sections that appear to be green blazed. Perhaps it was just the mix of paint. So I will try to note in this post (and others) when to follow the blue and when to follow the green blazes. Hopefully my maps at the end of each section make things less complicated as well.
From here, if you take a right on the PHT and head south along the Potomac River you will be taken back to Turkey Run Park and all the way back to Roosevelt Island following the route I outlined in my first PHT post. Hopefully you’ve already explored these sections in Part One so let’s take a left north and see what happens!
Very quickly, some great vista points and beaches open up along the river. I found a couple fire pits and other areas that would be perfect for a picnic in warmer months. There’s great fishing and bird watching galore!
Not far from here along the river, you’ll pass under the 495 / American Legion Memorial Bridge.
The trail continues under the bridge and over a small wooden footbridge that crosses a small rock-filled drainage channel. The PHT then immediately turns left and up into the neighborhood.
Don’t go all the way up to the street. There’s a wooden Potomac Heritage Trail sign nailed to a tree with a green blaze next to it. Keep going straight along the trail from here.
The trail narrows but the key to this section is to just keep following the green blazes. This isn’t the most beautiful PHT section, as you have the sounds and bustle of 495 to your left and the neighborhood road to your right. But you are still on a clearly marked National Historic Trail worth doing in any condition. It also seems like the neighboring community has done a lot to keep this section of the trail up, so it’s worth sticking to it and honoring their work. The more people who know the trail is here, the more attention it will receive.
Eventually, you’ll start hiking along a highway sound barrier that will remove most of the noise pollution and you’ll follow the road — Live Oak Dr — from here the rest of the way to Scott’s Run.
The entrance to Scott’s Run is across the street on the right and clearly marked next to the fence surrounding the Langley Swim and Tennis Club. The trail blazes here turn blue again (the main color for the PHT, as noted previously). There are additional colors / blazed trails to follow within the Scott’s Run Nature Preserve trail system as well: map.
We continued hiking into Scott’s Run and hit a couple overlooks and great spots before turning around to backtrack through incredibly stunning neighborhoods with massive houses. We decided to walk the streets through these neighborhoods, instead of retracing our route along the PHT, to make it a loop and see some different things. I easily followed Google Maps from here and was able to navigate back to the car in the Heather Brook Ct cul-de-sac. Even though the road ends where I parked, there’s a little connector trail between Heather Brook Court and Mackall Ave (the road we walked when making the loop back to the car). The connection is through a very small wooded section that you can cut across to get back to your car. Here’s the full map of the day, courtesy of Strava:
And here’s a close up of the connector at the beginning / end so you can make this hike a loop. The entire loop with all sections (+ a side hike in Scott’s Run) was only 5.6 miles total which took us about 2.5 hours (with a couple wrong turns).
Day 1 was a bit complicated but definitely gave us the sense of exploration and adventure we were looking for!
Day 2: Scott’s Run Nature Preserve to Great Falls — as many miles as you like!
Scott’s Run and Great Falls are both extremely popular Northern Virginia Parks with many miles of hiking and biking trails. There are dozens of routes to take and overlooks to see. The PHT in both these parks kind of combines with the other trails so there’s no wrong way to do it — even if you’re being puritanical about PHT miles. Just get out there and explore!
The only challenging thing during popular weekend days when the weather is nice is finding a place to park. There are several Scott’s Run parking areas that your GPS will take you to but these could be full depending on the day. Since I ended Day 1 entering Scott’s Run on the eastern side of the park — near the Langley Swim and Tennis Club off Live Oak Drive in McLean, VA — this is where I chose to park for Day 2 (see previous photo with the blue blaze next to the fence). This parking area has plenty of parking.
Hiking through Scott’s Run, I headed straight to the Potomac on the map to keep my focus on the PHT and the trails as close to the river as possible.
There are a few overlook trails worth stopping at and a historical cabin site.
Here’s a description of the park from Fairfax County:
“Scott’s Run Nature Preserve is part of the Potomac Gorge. This is one of the rarest biological ecosystems in the mid-Atlantic. Floodplains, rocky cliffs, and narrow valleys were carved by the erosive forces of the Potomac River. This dynamic union of rocks and river, home to many unusual plants and animals, also creates quick, dangerous currents and underwater hazards…Scott’s Run Nature Preserve is one of only a few nature preserves in the Fairfax County Park Authority system. It is a remarkable place of rare plants and splendid beauty, yet that beauty is challenged by urban pollution and human destruction. It is a classic clash of suburban sprawl and natural areas.”
There are many things to see among Scott’s Run’s nearly 400 acres including spring wildflowers that carpet the forest floor, rare plants and tree species growing along precipitous cliffs, and a grove of ancient hemlock trees. Here’s a trail map.
One of the biggest draws in the park is the waterfall at the northwestern corner along the Potomac — Scott’s Run Falls.
I’m combining photos here from multiple trips I’ve taken to Scott’s Run over the years to show you its beauty year round. There’s no wrong way to explore this park.
Unfortunately, after checking every map I have, I could not find a way to continue hiking along the Potomac Heritage Trail connecting Scott’s Run to Great Falls. The PHT ends in both sections with a neighborhood in between. Hopefully the Trail Gods have future plans to connect these two parks so the puritans like me can have unbroken miles through every section!
So picking up and driving to Great Falls, the PHT can be continued the same way it is in Scott’s Run — through the network of already existing park trails.
Great Falls needs no introduction from me. This 800-acre park managed by the National Park Service and only 15 miles from DC is already a world-class outdoor recreation destination for hiking, biking, climbing, and extreme white water rapids. I’ve spent many years exploring trails on both the Virginia and Maryland sides of Great Falls — including the popular rock scrambles of the Billy Goat Trail, the C&O Canal Trail, and mountain biking Difficult Run trails (a section of the park on the Virginia side that’s friendly to mountain biking).
Of course, there are the namesake falls themselves — accessible by overlook trails on both sides of the river.
Spend as many days as you like exploring both Scott’s Run Nature Preserve and Great Falls. Thankfully, the PHT continues north from Great Falls so meet me back here when you’re ready to keep going!
Day 3: Great Falls to Riverbend Park, Upper Potomac Park, Algonkian Regional Park, and beyond.
At the northern end of the parking area on the Virginia side of Great Falls, the Potomac Heritage Trail continues.
The PHT trail signs are very clear from Great Falls to Riverbend. It’s a really nice section of the trail.
Our hike on April 9 was also perfectly timed with a huge spring wildflower bloom! Virginia Bluebells lined both sides of the trail for miles. Virginia Springbeauty, Wild Blue Phlox, Moss Phlox, Golden Ragwort, Early Saxifrage, Common Blue Violet, Drooping Star-Of-Bethlehem, Tulips and other flowers popped out all over. Eastern Redbuds were also starting to bloom. Huge Arizona Sycamore trees arched toward the water.
The PHT keeps going north along the Potomac River from Riverbend Park (400 acres) to Seneca Regional Park (500 acres) to Algonkian Regional Park (838 acres). Each of these parks has their own hiking, biking, and horseback riding side trails, as well as boating and river access, and each is worth spending a day (or days) exploring the many things they have to offer. It is 11 total miles (one-way) along the PHT from Great Falls Park to Algonkian Regional Park.
*Note: it is possible to hike between Riverbend and Seneca Regional Park along the PHT and it’s a very nice section with few people. But it is nearly impossible to park between these two parks. There are very expensive houses in this area with owners who discourage parking anywhere near them. Horse trails zig zag through this section as well. On some maps of the PHT, this section is called “Upper Potomac Properties” or “Upper Potomac Park” — although it’s not really a “park” in the same accessible way as all the others I’ve written about here. I highly recommend this section as it’s quite beautiful along the river forest and quiet. But park at either Seneca or Riverbend and stay on the trails closest to the river which indicate the PHT.
*Additional Notes: between Seneca and Algonkian, the PHT connects but it travels straight through Trump National Golf Club. I didn’t have a problem hiking through here just stay on the trail. It’s well marked.
Keep in mind all the history worth exploring along the Potomac Heritage Trail — one of the major reasons it was made a National Scenic Trail by the National Park Service. This Piedmont region of low, rolling hills connects the Atlantic coastal plain to the Appalachian Mountains and was instrumental to George Washington’s vision of westward expansion. Remnants of his effort to divert and harness the power of the Potomac River and industrialize the mid-Atlantic are visible everywhere. Today, all the interconnected parks and trails protect a vast river ecosystem where plant and animal life can thrive. Imagine the dense biodiversity and wilderness these parks will support in another 100 years if we keep them protected. Having all this so close to the dense urban sprawl of the DC region is truly amazing.
This is the success story of the PHT: a living reminder of the natural wonders our mid-Atlantic and Potomac Gorge ecosystems have to offer all who come to live and explore.
Beyond Algonkian Regional Park, there are a bunch of little parks that continue north along the river including Elizabeth Mills Riverfront Park and Ball’s Bluff Battlefield Regional Park. The PHT connects and continues on in some but not all of these. Although, the total PHT network of 700+ miles of trails spreads way out from here in many different areas across a four-state region. Visit here for more hiking ideas in these sections and maps.
I look forward to future trail extensions planned by NPS that bring even more sections together and that share the beauty of the PHT with many more adventurers!
Will Hackman, Hackman Guided Adventures
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