Mt Vernon Parking

[Sal Favaro]

Good Morning –

First time poster, Richmond VA resident. I want to plan a trip to the Mt Vernon house and ride into DC on the trail, stay overnight and ride back down the next day. Is there anywhere near the southern most point of the trail I could park overnight? It would be a Sat/Sun trip.

Cheers,

SF

Topic

[PotomacCyclist]

There is free parking at Mount Vernon, but according to the official site, it can fill up on busy visitation days:

http://www.mountvernon.org/visit/travel-information

[Sal Favaro]

Thanks, I called about their lots and was told that none associated with the Mt Vernon site are overnight.

[Terpfan]

I’m pretty sure most of those neighborhoods off Mt. Vernon Highway have on-street parking without hours otherwise a little further up the MVT near Collingwood, I’m sure you could do the same there. As for actual lots, not really for overnight. I think NPS actually controls the lots at Mt Vernon even though the Mt Vernon Ladie’s Association owns and runs the place. NPS does not allow overnight parking in any of the lots along the trail. I would just park in one of those neighborhoods on a side street. Someone here may actually live in Collingwood or somewhere back there and could give better guidance. I don’t go down that way enough to know the signage, although I’ve seen the same old beat up cars parked near Alexandria Avenue before months later, so I’m guessing it’s not an issue.

Now where you stay in DC and secure your bike may be another story. I’ve never actually thought about the hotels’ various policies on bicycles because I guess I’ve only stayed in them one or two times. The other thing to remember is that it’s not a very far ride from DC to Mt. Vernon. End-to-end on the MVT, it’s about an hour, maybe a few minutes more. Aside from the very end by Mt. Vernon, it’s also relatively flat.

[Author]

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