[thirstyman]

@Tim Kelley 122198 wrote:

Do you have a social media presence we could tag you on while sharing this resource?

None to date, but probably a good idea.

[thirstyman]

@FFX_Hinterlands 122096 wrote:

And not one really decent map of all of them? Sounds like a job for some tourism grants or something.

I’m trying to keep up with these places at my website http://www.bikeablebrews.com/. The site lets you click to maps showing directions from the trail.

[thirstyman]

Here are some FCPT detour notes from a recent ride that may help newbies avoid getting lost. The trail generally follows alongside its namesake highway, except for 3 substantial detours that seem to be official if not permanent. Unfortunately all 3 lack adequate signage.
1. Heading from north to south the first detour is about 1.5 miles long and begins about 12.5 miles south of the Cup Leaf Holly Court trailhead. Make a left from the FCPT onto Fair Lakes Parkway, and follow about .6 mi to West Ox Road. Turn right on West Ox Road and follow about .9 mi to the intersection with Lee Highway (route 29). Using the sidewalk on the left side of West Ox Road, cross route 29 and follow straight onto the FCPT.
2. The 2nd detour, also about 1.5 miles long, begins about 4.7 miles further along the trail. Make a left from the FCPT, crossing the Fairfax County Parkway, onto Burke Centre Parkway and follow about .6 mi to Ox Road (route 123). Turn right on Ox Road and follow about .9 mi, crossing over the Fairfax County Parkway, then make a left beside the exit ramp to get back onto the FCPT.
3. The 3rd and most complicated detour is 4.7 miles long and begins 7.4 miles further along the trail. The FCPT overlaps the Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail at this point on the left side of the Fairfax County Parkway, but suddenly and without warning the trail seems to end at the parkway intersection with Stream Way. However, though there are no signs, you take a left here and follow straight uphill on the Connolly trail .2 mi passing through a housing complex. You will be on a paved path that ends at Rolling Road. Make a right on Rolling Road for .1 mi, then cross the road and follow straight onto the continuation of the Connolly trail as it runs along the left side of Hunter Village Drive. After about .5 mi, the trail will cross Hunter Village Drive, at which point you follow the path as it veers to the right alongside the Franconia-Springfield Parkway, follow .9 mi, then cross the parkway at the Bonniemill Lane intersection. Make an immediate left onto Hooes Road. Follow about .7 mi on Hooes Road until it dead ends, then continue straight on the trail to Backlick Road. Make a left, then take the pedestrian bridge over I-95 to Loisdale Road. Follow Loisdale Road south for 2 mi, then make a left to get back on the FCPT at Fairfax County Parkway. The FCPT ends 3.4 mi south of this point, roughly .5 mi north of US 1.
Besides these detours there are a few other places where the FCPT wanders for a short distance away from the parkway onto side roads but stays close enough to the highway that you shouldn’t get lost.

[thirstyman]

Telegraph Rd with its designated bicycle lane is not too bad, but at some point I hope there will be a more bike-friendly route connecting the FCPT to the Mt Vernon trail, and maybe that will come with the US1 road project. In the meantime the best I’ve found is Newington Rd-Telegraph Rd-Jeff Todd Way-Mt Vernon Hwy.

Just riding the FCPT recently between route 7 and Lorton presented many frustrations for me, including detours with missing or inadequate signage, numerous grade crossings and traffic signals (I lost count at eleventy zillion), root encroachments, crevices, potholes, and debris on the bikeway. I was surprised that the detours only made the route 3 miles longer than if I had biked the whole way on the parkway itself, but of course this is due to the serpentine route the parkway takes. In fact, mapping programs indicate it’s shorter and faster for motorists to take route 7, I495, and I95 than it is to take the parkway the whole way.

[thirstyman]

@Terpfan 115203 wrote:

You can do it now. You just have to take Jeff Todd Way as indicated by bobco85 (Telegraph to get to it). It’s actually really nice as they just opened it a couple months ago and so the pavement was nice and smooth.

Alternatively, it basically does connect to Rt 1, but south of Ft. Belvoir, or rather the southern gate area (forget the actual name). If you follow the trail until it ends at the southern terminus then you take that road left and it will intersect with Rt 1 at one of Ft. Bevloir’s gates–actually a bike friendly gate with a bike lane. You can then just show any id and they will let you ride through. You can also turn off at Telegraph and there is a bike lane there as well running southbound to Rt 1 (it does not run all the way northbound…trust me, I’ve had some pissed off motorists on that one, but I’m making my point to the County).

The downside to all of this is you kind of have to know these things exist otherwise it’s no fun on Rt 1. I also once tried taking Rt 1 home from there. That’s a fun one. I should do it again just to show how disjointed the whole thing is–you have to be on-road for chunks because the other infrastructure is just bizare (eg, one bridge on Rt 1 has no pedestrian area and a 6 inch shoulder, literally).

Thanks. I haven’t tried going through Ft Belvoir off of Route 1, but last week I did find a workable 8.5-mile route from the parkway trail to Mt Vernon Hwy by way of Newington Rd, Telegraph Rd, and Jeff Todd Way. The Telegraph Rd portion is 1.5 miles long with lots of traffic, but has a designated bike lane that some motorists honor. As you mentioned, the new Jeff Todd Way is a smooth ride and has almost no traffic yet. Also last week, armed with apple and google maps and a hard copy county bike map I managed to bike the whole route from W&OD to Mt Vernon in both directions using the Fairfax County Parkway trail wherever possible. Even with the maps I still got lost several times due to the many detours and lack of signage (about 7.5 miles of the 28-mile stretch between the W&OD and Newington Rd departs substantially from the parkway). A circuit ride comprising this parkway trail route + Mt Vernon trail + Custis trail + W&OD back to the parkway trail would be about 73.5 miles.

[thirstyman]

@trailrunner 114521 wrote:

I live right off the parkway near Rolling Road in Springfield and have ridden on it since it was opened about 20 years ago. Actually, I used to ride down the middle of the parkway while it was being built.

There is a path along the parkway from Herndon to Lorton, but there are a couple of gaps, such as between 123 and Burke Center Parkway, and there used to be a gap between 29 and 50 in the Fair Lakes and I-66 area, with no signs showing where to go or how to get back on the parkway once you leave. The first-time rider would be lost. When I first started riding on the parkway and I would encounter these gaps, I kept exploring the neighborhood until I figured out a way around the gaps. I also didn’t like some of the crossings and how the the trail would flip from one side to the other, so I eventually just started doing most of my riding on the shoulder.

But the bottom line is that there is nominally a path from the W&OD Herndon to the exit for Fullerton Road and Boudinot Drive in Lorton, which is just to the NW of I-95. With a smartphone or GPS (tools I didn’t have when the parkway first opened), you should be able to find your way without too much problem. Fairfax County has published some trail and bike maps, which you could probably find on their website, which might also help.

As far as extending it to Route 1 – I don’t know of any plans to do that, but it would make my life a lot easier. I commute from my house in Springfield to Fort Belvoir. I live about a half mile from the parkway, and it would be so easy for me to just get on the parkway and take it directly to Route 1 and then enter Fort Belvoir. But as I said, the path ends just NW of I-95, right before a very bike-unfriendly area where the parkway crosses over I-95 and then continues through an industrial area. In this area, there are several on and off ramps, lanes ending and merging, lots of trucks getting on and off the freeway, and lots of car traffic. I’m a pretty brave rider, but that is one intersection I will not ride through, at least on a daily basis. Instead, I have to add about three miles each way to my commute to avoid that intersection and get to Route 1. IMHO, they did a poor job on the parkway path in general, and an especially poor job in this area.

Thanks very much for that detail. Yes, it’s too bad the parkway path was so poorly done. The parts I’ve been on have no mile markers, signage is sparse, and many heavy-traffic crossings are at grade. As you say, it could have been a great commuting route. Also, the US 1 construction project by Ft Belvoir promises to include a bike trail that will extend from route 235 southward past the parkway, and as a result you’ll be able to pedal from Mt Vernon to the parkway and live to tell about it. A truly bikeable and continuous parkway path, in conjunction with the W&OD and Mt Vernon trails, would form a 70-mile bikeway circuit.

[thirstyman]

@mstone 114509 wrote:

Google maps is the most convenient (under the search box in the upper left there should be a “getting around” box which has a “bicycling” option that will put green lines on the bike trails). There’s also a fairfax county bike map which is generally less convenient unless you have a paper copy to keep on the bike for emergencies.

route 7 where to route 1 where? that already exists if you don’t add any more qualifiers. (route 1 at four mile run to the four mile run trail to lucky run to leesburg pike)

Thanks for the replies. Google still shows the parkway as #7100 in some parts so wasn’t sure it’s current. Referring to route 7 to route 1 I should have asked if plans exist to complete a continuous trail along the parkway between those two highways. It looks like the only safe way to bike across I95 requires a substantial detour off the parkway.

[Author]

Posts