We’ve lived here in the Washington DC area for over 30 years now. As our time in the area rapidly comes to a close we’ve finally, after all these years, walked both ends of the Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail. I’ve got mixed emotions about leaving this trail behind as it has been one of the most constant fixtures in our time here.
For much of the past 30 years we lived in western Loudoun County, having our home first in Lovettsville, and later in Hamilton where the trail bisected our property. We also had a business in Purcellville, right on the very end of the this 45 mile trail. While in Loudoun we walked the western end of the W&OD trail regularly. I biked from home to our shop in Purcellville countless times.
When our son was young, I periodically took him to his daycare in Leesburg by way of a bike and trailer. It was wonderful to be able to go for miles in either direction for a walk, bike, or run under the cover of trees (mostly) and away from traffic. This part of the trail is quite rural – passing by farms and large tree covered lots for mile after mile. Horses are a very common feature as are wild turkey and the (very) occasional bear sighting. Most notably for us, the western end of the W&OD was a core part of our training program for hiking Volcán Barú in Panama, Havasu Falls in Arizona, and El Camino de Costa Rica.
At times during my career, other parts of the W&OD were fixtures as well. From 2001 to 2011 I worked for Research In Motion (BlackBerry). For some of that time we had an office in Sterling that backed onto the trail. Likewise, from 2016 to 2019 I worked for a UK based company, Intercede, where we had offices in Reston Town Center. Again, my office was alongside the trail here too. Both locations afforded me the opportunity to take lunch breaks and walk a bit along the trail.
Now that we’ve lived in Annandale (Fairfax County) for the past year, we’ve had the opportunity to see the opposite end of the W&OD Trail regularly. This time it serves as a core part of our training plan for the Camino de Santiago – specifically the Via Podiensis in France and the Camino Francés in Spain. We’ve regularly been walking west from a small parking lot just east of Gallows Rd out to a point between Wiehle Ave and Reston Town Center (about 9 miles out), returning for a quick stop off at Caboose Brewery in Vienna before walking the last hour back to our car.
This section has far more traffic, especially runners and cyclists, but also e-bikes. It can be quite busy on the weekends. Gone are the turkeys unfortunately, and for the most part, horses as well. Yet there are far more deer and loads of birds, especially early morning in the Vienna area. There are no real farms on this segment, having been replaced by smaller lots of suburban houses with taller office buildings, especially in the Reston area.
Seeking a bit more variety, and with only about two months left in our time here, we finally, after 30 years, made it to Mile 0! From our normal parking spot east of Gallows Rd, it’s a bit over 9 miles east to the the very beginning of the W&OD Trail. I should also add that from the time you cross I-495 until you get to Shirlington, it’s all downhill. This stretch is certainly more urban, but the trail is still quite peaceful overall. Well placed bridges and underpasses allow you to skip most major intersections. The trail itself follows 4 Mile Run for most of this stretch and, as it’s floodplain, there is a good deal of tree cover and separation from the very busy roadways that crisscross this part of the region. Having Shirlington as our halfway point for this route is great for another reason too. Located just off the end of the W&OD is Guapo’s Shirlington – a local Mexican chain that has been a constant feature since our days at American University (with Guapo’s Tenleytown)
Having such a long trail within easy reach for much of the past 30 years has been a blessing. We’ve spent countless hours walking, running, and biking various segments of the trail as our son grew and our life evolved. As we are headed for Southeast Asia for much of the foreseeable future, the W&OD trail is probably the single biggest thing I’ll miss about living in the Northern Virginia region.
