TRIANGLE — Hiking is one of the most popular activities at Prince William Forest Park.
There are 16 trails spanning a combined 37 miles of federal parkland that span the gamut of terrain. Hikers can get a sense of what Northern Virginia was like before it was developed, with creekside views, areas surrounded by wildlife, small waterfalls, and the Chompawamsic backcountry area that requires hikers to obtain a permit.
Since the park was founded in the 1930s, however, there has never been an effort to map out the uses of the park trails. And there’s a lack of trail connections in the park as some don’t connect to others. And, there are no connections to trails outside the park, to include a trail on busy Route 234.
And the park is evolving, as Chief Ranger Chris Alford once told me that Prince William Forest Park isn’t a National Park in a sense of what most people think of a National Park, like the geysers of Yellowstone in Wyoming, the vistas of the Sierra Mountains at Yosemite in California, or the deep wonders of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.
Prince William is more of a recreational area where, more than anything else, people come to hike.
On Tuesday, park officials will hold a special public meeting that will ask one thing of residents: What do you want from your park?
“We’re looking at our trail management plan and we want to know what are the interests of our users, and how we can better serve them the public from a parks and resource management perspective,” said Chief Ranger Chris Alford.
Park officials then want to take those ideas and build them into the future use plans for the park. For them, it’s all about balancing the use of the park for human visitors and with protecting the natural species that live there.
Alford says that in the past there have been requests to allow mountain biking in the park. Up until the late 1980s, horseback riding was allowed and it could be allowed again if there is enough interest.
Alford said park officials haven’t ruled out what will or won’t be allowed at the park. He’s more interested, at this point, in hearing from the public.
The public meeting about the future use of the park is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Montclair Tabernacle Church of God, located at 16120 Dumfries Road in Dumfries.
If you can’t make the meeting, written comments will be accepted through April 27.
