trails | ALXnow

Published March 2, 2026 at 3:15PM

Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail win the Trail of the Year Award from the Public Lands Alliance (via Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail/Facebook)

Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail, a volunteer group dedicated to trail maintenance and education efforts, was recognized with an award last month for its trail renovation work.

The organization was honored with the “Trail of the Year” award from the Public Lands Alliance at the nonprofit’s conference in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Feb. 23. The group received the award for its partnership with the National Park Service to renovate the George Washington Memorial Parkway’s trail surface and rest areas from 2024 to 2025.

News

Trail improvements coming to Ben Brenman Park through GMU partnership

By James Cullum

Published February 6, 2026 at 12:30PM

Pedestrian Bridge at Ben Brenman Park (image via Google Maps)

New fitness equipment, trees and shrubs are coming to a half-mile segment of the Ben Brenman Park walking trail.

The improvements at 4800 Brenman Park Drive, which are expected to arrive by early spring, are being coordinated through a partnership between Alexandria’s Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities and a professor at George Mason University.

News

New park connecting Potomac Yard and Four Mile Run trails opening later this summer

By Vernon Miles

Published July 18, 2024 at 11:15AM | Updated July 18, 2024 at 12:33PM

North Potomac Yard Park (staff photo by James Cullum)

A new section of park in Potomac Yard is nearly ready for its public debut.

A new memo (page 8) to the Parks and Recreation Commission said the North Potomac Yard extension of Potomac Yard Park is almost ready to be opened to the public.

News

Alexandria hosting open house for long-awaited fix to damaged Holmes Run Trail

By Vernon Miles

Published June 25, 2024 at 11:05AM

A trail entrance to Dora Kelley Nature Park after flood damage in 2018 (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The City of Alexandria is hosting an open house tonight for a long-awaited trail repair project.

A double whammy of historic floods in 2018 and 2019 wreaked havoc on the Holmes Run Trail — a beautiful forested trail running through woods and along the Holmes Run stream through the heart of Alexandria.

News

Holmes Run Trail repairs delayed to 2026

By Vernon Miles

Published January 25, 2024 at 10:00AM

A trail entrance to Dora Kelley Nature Park after flood damage in 2018 (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

In a City Council meeting earlier this week, City Council member Kirk McPike reported that portions of the Holmes Run Trail won’t be fixed until 2026 — eight years after they were damaged by a storm.

In 2022, Mayor Justin Wilson said it was frustrating that some of the final pieces of the recovery wouldn’t be finished until 2024. The new timeline places final repairs two years later.

News

Volunteer organization brings full length of Mount Vernon Trail to Google Street View

By Vernon Miles

Published February 28, 2023 at 10:45AM

The Mount Vernon Trail near Daingerfield Island (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

For those who haven’t bicycled or hiked the Mount Vernon Trail, there’s a new online option to explore the trail.

The Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail has mapped all 18 miles of the Mount Vernon Trail on Google Street View.

News

Alexandria opens up about progress on Holmes Run Trail fix and Mount Vernon Trail widening

By Vernon Miles

Published October 18, 2022 at 11:00AM

A trail over Holmes Run closed in 2020 after flooding damaged the trail system (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

In an update (page 7) prepared for a Transportation Commission meeting tomorrow night, staff outlined some of the progress made in the Complete Streets program along with a look at what’s ahead for some of the city’s most popular trails.

One of the biggest items is progress on the long-awaited Holmes Run Trail Repairs. Portions of the trail have been closed since flooding in 2019 destroyed much of the creek-adjacent infrastructure. The report for the Transportation Commission outlined what’s ahead for those repairs. Parts of that trail, the report said, could be completed by next spring.

News

City looking for feedback on new Eisenhower trail

By Vernon Miles

Published December 13, 2021 at 3:30PM

Old Cameron Run Trail Project, via City of Alexandria

The city is looking for feedback on a planned new trail at the east end of the Eisenhower corridor in the Carlyle neighborhood, though the construction of the trail is still years away.

The plan is to build a half-mile shared use path between Hooffs Run Drive and South Payne Street. Another quarter-mile section will connect it to redevelopment between Mill Road and Hooffs Run Drive.

News

Morning Notes

By Vernon Miles

Published October 21, 2021 at 5:00AM

DASH ridership up 26% — “[DASH] says its Sept ridership was up 26% (215,963 vs 171,589 in Aug) after it launched revamped bus route network, made fares free. Probably got a bump from more reopening/activity.” [Twitter]

Mount Vernon Trail marked for bump removal — “The trail bumps were marked by spray paint with care with hopes that our volunteers would remove them from there. Volunteer to remove trail bumps on 10/23 or 10/30.” [Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail]

News

West End trail project derailed by stalled development

By Vernon Miles

Published September 9, 2021 at 1:00PM | Updated September 9, 2021 at 2:59PM

Backlick Trail, photo via City of Alexandria

(Updated at 3 p.m.) The city had plans — to the tune of a $5 million grant — to extend the Backlick Run Trail and connect Armistead Boothe Park to the Van Dorn Street bridge. But a redevelopment the plan hinged on his been stalled, and with it city staff said they’re shifting some of the funding to another project.

The trail runs behind the Cameron Station neighborhood and connects to the Holmes Run trail in the east, but ends abruptly at Armistead Boothe Park in the west. Cyclists or pedestrians continuing from there have to move up to the shared S. Pickett Street to get to the Van Dorn Bridge.

News

Mount Vernon Trail widening project gets funding

By Vernon Miles

Published August 3, 2021 at 10:45AM | Updated August 3, 2021 at 12:09PM

Exercising along the Mount Vernon Trail in Alexandria (staff photo by James Cullum)

The good news for users of the Mount Vernon Trail is that a proposed widening project was selected for state funding. The bad news? It will be 2026 before work even starts on the project.

As anyone who has bicycled or walked along the popular trail could likely attest, there are parts that can feel dangerously narrow. Last year, the National Park Service released a report recommending widening. The report noted that there were 225 reported bike and pedestrian crashes on the trail between 2006 and 2010, many of them at crash hotspots near National Airport and the 14th Street Bridge.