PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — After the Prince William Conservation Alliance worked hard to preserve Merrimac Farm, group members decided they wanted to have an annual festival to acquaint the community with the site.
The Merrimac Farm Natural Wildlife Area, as it’s known officially, is made up of 302 acres of wetlands outside Quantico Marine Corps Base in Nokesville in western Prince William County.
Virginia Bluebell flowers grow wild on the property and peak this time of year, and when naturalists saw that the Virginia Bluebell Festival was born. This year’s Virginia Bluebell Festival kicks off at 10 a.m. Sunday on the grounds Merrimac Natural Wildlife Preserve.
“We hoped it would become a great community event because it’s such a nice site, accessible to so many people, said Prince William Conservation Alliance Executive Director Kim Hosen. “It’s really unusual to have a natural area in such a large populated area.”
While the area surrounding Merrimac is populated, the wildlife area itself is secluded, and getting there is almost like taking a drive back in time down a gravel country road that leads to an old farm house.
But when there, some visitors have likened the experience of walking through the Bluebells like “walking through Oz,” said Hosen. And there are plenty of activities see and hiking to do. The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and offers tours, hands on wildlife and habitat exhibits, and exhibit on butterflies, dragonflies, as well as birds.
There will be barbeque on hand from local favorite N.C. Barbeque on Wheels, as well as a bake sale.
The natural area is located along Cedar Run, the headwaters of the Occoquan River, according to the Prince William Conservation Alliance’s website:
Merrimac Farm includes more than one mile of frontage along Cedar Run, a 7-acre island and boasts one of the largest patches of Virginia Bluebells in the Northern Virginia region.
It includes more than 100 acres of contiguous wetlands protected by 200 acres of hardwood forests and upland meadows, at the headwaters of the Occoquan Reservoir and adjacent to Cedar Run.
Merrimac Farm connects Quantico Marine Corps forests and wetlands with the 300-acre Cedar Run wetland mitigation bank. This connectivity enhances the conservation values of all parcels.
The area has been protected from development five years, opening to the public in March 2008, with the help of Quantico Marine Corps Base and the Virgnia Department of Inland Fisheries, at a cost of $3 million.
The Bluebell Festival is free to attend. Merrimac Farm is open daily sun up to sun down.
