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Bluemont Park is one of many picnic areas and parks within the trail’s first 10 miles. From east to west, the trail gains elevation, albeit gradually. From here, the W&OD Trail is urban for a few miles before exchanging the trappings of the city for leafier suburbs. The trail’s eastern terminus is in the unincorporated community of Shirlington in Arlington, which makes for a nice starting or ending point. The trail is exceptionally well marked, with mileposts every 0.5 mile and interpretive signs telling the story of the people and places along the rail line. Horses are restricted to this gravel trail, though you’ll rarely see one east of Vienna. Today, NOVA Parks maintains the trail with the help of volunteers from Friends of the W&OD.Ī crushed-stone trail parallels the paved W&OD for 32 miles and is favored by mountain bikers, equestrians, and joggers. NOVA Parks opened the first few miles of paved trail in Falls Church in 1974 through an agreement with Virginia Electric and Power Company, which owned the right-of way, and in 1977 began purchasing the land. The W&OD Railroad was built in 1859, shortly before the Civil War, and went into disuse in 1968.

The trail serves as an important spine in the developing 800-mile Capital Trails Coalition network, a Rails-to-Trails Conservancy TrailNation project connecting the greater Washington, D.C., metropolitan region. Along with the Four Mile Run Trail, the Mount Vernon Trail, and the Custis Trail, the W&OD Trail contributes to the Arlington Loop. The W&OD was inducted into the national Rail-Trail Hall of Fame in 2008. The Washington and Old Dominion Trail (W&OD), one of suburban Washington, D.C.’s most popular rail-trails, is a fantastic link between the state’s rural and historical past and the nation’s capital.

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