Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section reads like a news release, or is otherwise written in an overly promotional tone.
Please help rewrite this article from a neutral point of view to be less promotional.
Where appropriate, blatant advertising may be marked for speedy deletion with {{db-spam}}.

The Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority is an association dedicated to providing people in Northern Virginia, a region of Virginia in the United States, with access to parks and nature reserves and to protect Northern Virginia's rich heritage of woods, meadows, lakes and streams from the threat of suburban sprawl. The Authority was organised in 1959.

The Park Authority today represents three counties (Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun) and three cities (Alexandria, Falls Church and Fairfax). It administers more than 10,000 acres (40 km²) of woodlands, streams and countryside.

[edit] Constituent parks

The regional parks and other features administered by the Park Authority include:

Bull Run Regional Park
Hemlock Overlook Regional Park
Bull Run Marina
Fountainhead Regional Park
Sandy Run Reional Park
Occoquan Regional Park
Pohick Bay Regional Park
Gateway Regional Park
Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
Upton Hill Regional Park
Cameron Run Regional Park
Carlyle House Historic Park
Potomac Overlook Regional Park
Algonkian Regional Park
Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park
Brambleton Regional Park
Red Rock Wilderness Overlook Regional Park
Ball's Bluff Battlefield Regional Park
Temple Hall Farm Regional Park

[edit] Hemlock Overlook Regional Park

Hemlock Overlook Regional Park or "Center for Outdoor Education" is an organization jointly operated by George Mason University and the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority.^[1] It is located along the western border of Fairfax County, Virginia in the suburbs of Washington DC, and is rich in regional Civil War history along the banks of Bull Run.

Its aim is to provide an opportunity for organizations, communities and people of all ages to participate in high quality experiential and outdoor education activities. To this end it has overnight accommodation, hiking trails and challenge courses.

Nearby Bull Run Marina^[2] offers boating for canoes and small watercraft, angling, and nature study allowing Hemlock Overlook to expand its educational offerings.