This Is W&OD Trail: Leesburg!

The W&OD in Virginia is a 100-foot-wide corridor called the skinniest park in the state, but it is also one of the longest, with 45 miles of paved trail for walking, running, cycling, skating, and other uses along the former Washington and Old Dominion Railroad roadbed through the urban heartland and countryside of Northern Virginia. The trail extends from Shirlington in Arlington County to Purcellville in Loudoun County, with its first section opening in Falls Church in 1974 under Mayor Harold Miller and the full trail completed in 1988. Along the paved trail are 32 additional miles of adjacent gravel equestrian trail for horseback riding over hills and through shallow streams. The railroad itself began as the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad in 1847 and was considered vital for carrying commerce inland from the Alexandria seaport to Loudoun County, though that trade route never fully developed. Its former route, now followed by the trail, passes through Arlington, Falls Church, Vienna, Reston, Herndon, Sterling, Leesburg, and Purcellville, places that became key economic sites in modern Northern Virginia. The route also offers uncommon views, crossing the Capital Beltway, crossing Route 66 in two places, crossing Route 7 near Leesburg, and running beside a Luckstone Quarry between Leesburg and Purcellville.

Leesburg, Virginia · United States