NOVA Parks News
W&OD Trail 50th Anniversary Celebration Begins with First 45-mile Trail Cleanup
NOVA Parks to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the "first ride" along the Washington & Old Dominion Trail on September 7, 1974 with a series of events and activities taking place April through September.
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Fairfax Station, Virginia (April 22, 2024): NOVA Parks (Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority) will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail with a series of events and activities taking place April through September. The festivities will begin on Rails to Trails Conservancy’s ‘Celebrate Trails Day’ on Saturday, April 27, 8:30-11:30 a.m., with the first-ever community cleanup of the entire 45-mile trail. Make Earth Day every day and show appreciation of the W&OD Trail by volunteering anywhere along the trail from Shirlington to Purcellville, Virginia.
The W&OD Trail is named for the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad that last traveled along its path, spreading commerce from the Alexandria seaport to the growing Northern Virginia communities to the west. The tracks connected and helped establish many hubs for economic development, which are now Arlington, Falls Church, Vienna, Reston, Herndon, Sterling, Leesburg, and Purcellville. When the railroad was abandoned in 1968, Dominion Power installed transmission lines along the corridor. Almost immediately, NOVA Parks started studying the feasibility of converting the former railroad to a trail.
Nearly 50 years ago, on September 7, 1974, the “first ride” was documented on the first stretch of the W&OD Trail—a 1.5-mile-long and six-foot-wide asphalt path in the City of Falls Church. Through a succession of acquisitions over the following 14 years, NOVA Parks continued to develop sections, completing its vision of a continuous 45-mile trail from Arlington to Purcellville. The W&OD Trail was one of the first rails-to-trails routes in the nation.
With 70 road intersections along the W&OD Trail, safety has been a primary concern. In recent years, an increasing number of intersections have been ‘grade separated,’ with vehicles and trail users on different levels. In 2021 a trail bridge was installed over Route 29 in Arlington, and later this year the new trail bridge over Wiehle Avenue in Reston will be open. NOVA Parks is continuously enhancing the trail to ensure it is user-friendly for its wide variety of uses. Over the years, the trail has transitioned from a weekend recreational resource into an important carbon-free transportation network for its more than 2 million users per year.
The vision for the trail continues with enhancements to create dual parallel trails—one for pedestrians and one for cyclists. The first segment of dual trails opened in Falls Church in 2021 and dual trails will be added in other urban areas along the trail.
Friends of the W&OD Trail is a group of volunteers that support and assist NOVA Parks with a variety of trail-based volunteer activities, including the Trail Patrol. “On the Go & On the Know” Trail Safety Guidelines provide the framework for safely using the most popular trail in Northern Virginia.
Leading up to the 50th anniversary of the “first ride,” a series of events and activities will take place April through September to celebrate 50 years of connecting communities in Northern Virginia.
Visit novaparks.com/WOD50 to learn more about the schedule of events and activities, register to participate, read about the history of the W&OD Trail and download shareable graphics.
About NOVA Parks
Founded in 1959 as a conservation organization, NOVA Parks (Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority) represents three counties and three cities—Arlington County, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, the City of Alexandria, the City of Falls Church, and the City of Fairfax. The regional agency manages 37 parks with 12,500 acres of parkland. The regional agency now manages 37 parks with 12,465 acres of parkland, including waterparks, golf courses, campsites, historic sites, event venues, boat launches, annual holiday light shows, and a high adventure ropes course.
About Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park
Often called the skinniest park in Virginia, Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Railroad Regional Park is a paved trail between Shirlington and Purcellville, Virginia. Run, walk, cycle or skate the 45-mile route along the former roadbed of the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad, which connects Northern Virginia communities through the urban heartland and into the Virginia countryside. Equestrians can ride the adjacent 32-mile gravel horse trail.
