Pimmit Run Trail (McLean Singletrack)

[vvill]

Ah yes, I spent a while perusing that PDF last year and trying to figure out if I could ride it. I think I entered somewhere around Bryan Branch Rd but then turned around after not too long. I should try the southern part, I know a few neighbors use that regularly for running.

[Subby]

We live in the neighborhood that borders that park between Westmoreland and Old Chesterbrook. Our family goes down there all the time with our lab so she can swim. The trail gets lots of use from runners and dog walkers but I have never seen any bikes other than tiny little kids. CX would be a blast back there. Once you cross Old Dominion going East it starts getting a little sketchy because I don’t think they have easements all the way to the Potomac, so you will be stuck on some private land. I guess that just makes it an adventure!

[hozn]

Yeah, there were one or two places where I definitely seemed to be in someone’s yard (though still on a path). And toward the northern-most end [of the upstream trail], things got really confusing. I ended up asking someone for directions, which I’m not sure helped One of us (probably me) was confusing Old Chesterbrook with Chesterbrook. In the end, I followed voices and stumbled out onto Bryan Branch Rd. So definitely simpler further south But lots of fun. Look forward to taking my son out there when he get a little older.

[americancyclo]

I took my daughter on an adventure in her trailer in to Olney Park in Pimmit Hills thinking we could somehow follow Pimmit Run through Pimmit Run Stream Valley Park and under the Dulles Toll Rd to end up near Great Falls for an alternate commute from daycare, but after some skinny bridges and some stepped sections, I aborted. I also found those maps, but they apparently don’t connect to the section I’m thinking of.

[KelOnWheels]

Nice! I really want to get the Space Horse out on some dirt and I have no idea where to go!

[eminva]

@KelOnWheels 59681 wrote:

Nice! I really want to get the Space Horse out on some dirt and I have no idea where to go!

Kel — have you tried the Cross County trail in Fairfax county? Lots of variety there for the Space Horse!

Liz

[KelOnWheels]

Just that little bit we did on the FABB ride – that was fun! I just got the Ginormous Fairfax County Bike Map so now maybe I can figure out where the CCT actually is

[ShawnoftheDread]

@KelOnWheels 59739 wrote:

Just that little bit we did on the FABB ride – that was fun! I just got the Ginormous Fairfax County Bike Map so now maybe I can figure out where the CCT actually is

No, that’s not going to do it. You’ll only get to know where some of it is.

[KelOnWheels]

@ShawnoftheDread 59742 wrote:

No, that’s not going to so it. You’ll only get to know where some of it is.

In ancient times… Hundreds of years before the dawn of history, lived a strange race of people… the Druids.

No one knows who they were or what they were doing, but their legacy remains. Hewn into the living rock… of the CCT.

[jabberwocky]

@KelOnWheels 59681 wrote:

Nice! I really want to get the Space Horse out on some dirt and I have no idea where to go!

For actual dirt near Alexandria, I’d recommend Wakefield:
http://www.logoffrideon.com/trails/index.php?title=Wakefield
and Laurel Hill:
http://www.logoffrideon.com/trails/index.php?title=Laurel_Hill

The CCT is mostly gravel and paved to the south of Fairfax (though it goes through both parks I linked).

[TwoWheelsDC]

Resurrecting this old thread. I rode this today to see if it’s a place to do some off-roading on the commute. Ooof, it is in bad shape. Really overgrown, which isn’t so bad, but there are A LOT of trees down, particularly the sections north of Old Chesterbrook, including one section where a cluster of trees fell and completely wiped out the trail. I hiked around in the woods and eventually found the other side, but definitely not something I’d want to do on my way to/from work. And as far as I could tell, the trail basically dead ends at Bryan Branch and the Highlands Swim/Tennis Club. It looks like a separate trail picks up on the other side of Bryan Branch, but there’s not really a good way to cross, since the stream is in a ravine, but maybe there’s some other way around…

[hozn]

I never found the north trail, but will admit to not looking too hard. Let me/us know if you find the other part and how it is. It was fun to ride the southern parts, though. That elusive inside-beltway singletrack. I would love to see some proper trails developed in Glen Carlyn.

[Author]

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