Virginia Bluebells
I recently responded to a question from J.D. on the PATC Trails Forum about access points to the Bull Run Occoquan Trail and historical sites along the trail:
The Bull Run-Occoquan trail is marked with blue blazes on trees and is pretty easy to follow. There are yellow and white horse trails branching off at various points so just look for the blue at intersections. In general, the trail has some steep but fairly short climbs.
Bull Run Regional Park
At the upstream end, the trailhead is near the Bull Run Regional Park campground store. You’ll see a big sign for the trailhead on the right side of the park road before getting to the campground building. This northern-most section is nice one along Cub Run and Bull Run, especially in early April when the bluebells are in bloom.
Route 28
Access at Rte 28 is a parking lot on the west side of 28 on the north side of the bridge. Downstream towards Hemlock Park, there are remnants of earthworks from the Civil War. Farther, towards Hemlock Park, you pass underneath the Norfolk Southern Railway tracks (originally the Orange & Alexandria RR). The bridge over Bull Run was destroyed and rebuilt seven times during the Civil War.
Hemlock Park
To access at Hemlock Park, you have to hike downhill a ways before reaching the Bull Run Occoquan Trail. At this point you can see the remains of a Bull Run power station which provided power to Clifton in 1925. Downstream between Hemlock Park and Bull Run Marina, the trail passes by the soccer fields at Kincheloe Rd. Here the trail may be a bit confusing to follow but just look for the blazes.
Bull Run Marina
At Bull Run Marina, you can access the trail by parking at the large lot where Fairfax County stores mulch for its residents on the south side of Old Yates Ford Road. There is a short trail toward Bull Run that passes an abandoned brick restroom before intersecting with the trail. Downstream from here, there were a couple of relocations a few years back where the old trail is now blazed yellow. You can use these to make loops (take blue trail out and yellow back for example). As a former overseer of this section, I liked this section a lot as it included some good views of Bull Run.
Fountainhead Park
Driving into Fountainhead Park, there is a large parking lot on the right side. On the other side of this lot (toward the woods), there is a large sign indicating the trailhead. Very near the trailhead is the Davis/Lewis family cemetery. About 2.5 miles up from the end of the trail at Fountainhead, there is a sign near Wolf Run Shoals indicating the trail overlaps the Washington and Rochambeau route they traveled in 1781 on their way to meet Cornwallis at the Battle of Yorktown.
See Also: Blue Bells and More along the Bull Run–Occoquan Trail
