I ran here various times during my stay in VA. Its a nice park to walk around, jog or run. The loop…read moreis mainly unpaved and its about 1.8 miles. Definitely beats running around the neighborhood as you see fellow runners and animals.

Yesterday on July 30th 2026. Royal lake is a fun drop by lake if you just want to cast a couple of…read moretimes. They don't have a bathroom, but they have a portable potty and it was not very clean. You can picnic here they have BBQ grills and it's free to get in. This lake is in the middle of a neighborhood. This lake is stocked with Largemouth Bass, Bluegill, crappies. I would recommend coming and taking a look.

If you want to take a step back in time and visit a small Virginia town, then take a beautiful…read morecounty drive to Clifton. There are NO chain stores here. In fact, there are only 1-2 shops and several restaurants. The main draw are the historical markers along the railroad tracks that describe their history and importance and the quaint 1900's architecture. The first railroad station, now gone, was built around 1850. The railroad was important during the Civil War with many battles fought near this border town. The town remains unchanged since the 1930's. Colorful homes line the street each telling a story. Amenities are limited. There is some street parking and a small parking lot behind Buckley's store. Parking is free. The only restrooms are in the restaurants. All the restaurants are good. Gas up before you come.

This is a nice town in Virginia. Surrounded by both Fairfax and Prince William Counties, bring cash…read moreand credit cards. Nothing is cheap here. In many ways it's a lot like Middleburg. On a plus note I do like the trains a lot. Also the caboose exhibit is a nice aspect. Yet do take care, as the main road can be fairly congested. Old Town Alexandria or Fairfax, are more foot traffic friendly. Is it pretty? Yes. The old church and general stores are very attractive. Seeing the old Texaco sign is always pleasant. There are some expensive craft shops and restaurants. Petersons Ice Cream, is higher than most, but I do love them for a dessert treat. Parking can be a challenge, but overall small and quaint.

Amazing hiking trails! Trails are pretty accessible for all levels…read more The trail maps need updating as there are some new trails.

It's closed for months to repair a sewage siphon in spring, which is ridiculous. There's a sewage…read morepipe that empties into the waterfall area, but people don't seem to care and they swim, even though you can smell the sewage. The whole place and even the forest is littered with hard lemonade and beer bottles, babies diapers, dog poop and all kinds of food wrappers.

Came here with a group for kayaking. Only they ran out of kayaks before noon. So some of us had to…read morerent standup paddle boards instead. There is a slightly more expensive pricing for folks not residing in Fairfax, Loudon, Alexandria, or Arlington counties. But they don't really verify...so as long as you put down an address within those counties on your waiver, then you are good to go. See my pics for the pricing as of Aug 2023. The Sat I came, they seemed very short staffed with only two people managing the rental payments and forms and then another 2 manning all the boats/boards. So we pretty much ended up having to launch and bring back our vessels ourselves. They have very limited 2 person kayaks and they require kids under 12 to be in a boat with another adult so be prepared. In addition to kayaks they have jon boats and stand up paddle boards. You can bring your own vessel but there are launch prices. The lake is quite large so 1 hour is still not enough to explore its entirety even if you were powering through. The boat rental process is this: 1) Each person needs to fill out a waiver (just one page), you need to keep the yellow paper on you and return it when you come back. 2) Payments can be done per person or by group and they accept Apple Pay 3) Go down to the dock, hand them your form 4) They will tell you which vessel you can pick and hand you life vests and paddle(s) 5) Go have fun 6) Return the vessel 7) Bring back the yellow form to the rental house Not sure why we need to keep a piece of paper on us while out on the water. I've rented boats in many other places and all they needed was the vessel back. I guess to prevent theft...but they log the number assigned to the vessel on the form prior to you renting so...But at least there isn't an entrance fee to this park and there isn't really much else to do besides activities around the water front. There is a trail that leads to Bull Run, but there isn't say a playground, picnic area, or sports fields. Parking is pretty limited but you can park along the side of the road.

One of my dogs favorite hiking spots. The bike trails are good too, although this park is nestled…read moreway out of suburban NOVA areas like FFX.

Love this public park! The playgrounds and sports facilities are spaced out nicely. It can get…read morecrowded in the weekend, with limited parking onsite. Took my two year old here and had a blast, will recommend!

I so miss the rocket, and the merry go round. As one can imagine, we live in a litigious society,…read moreand best guess is that's why the latter is gone. This isn't to say it's a bad place, as quite the opposite, it's a truly safe park. Located right next to the Fairfax City police department, I have a lot of happy memories from here. Taking my kids to this park was fun, and so was sledding on the hills in winter. Some parts of the trail need to be repaired, but otherwise it's in great condition. Kids of all ages will like the skate park, and the basketball hoops. Also the fields are fun for kite or drone flying. This is a rather large park. You can get exercise on the tennis courts, or cook on the grills here. The covered patios with tables, make for a decent birthday celebration spot. Also there's a volleyball area too. If in the area stop on in, and hours are dusk til dawn.

One of the nicest,condensed playgrounds I've seen and definitely the most technologically advanced…read more We had fun playing "buzz" along with the British-accented voice. Also cool was the music box feature,which played several songs including "row,row your boat", "here we go around the mulberry bush", and "if you're happy and you know it". The highlight for older kids is the stand-up merry-go-round. There is one of the swings where the adult and baby can swing together too. There is a long tunnel slide as well as a tiny slide for tots. The setting in the woods is nice too. Parking is available in the lot at the front of the path to the playground. The playground equipment is brand new; definitely worth a visit if you're nearby.

Nice place for families. It won't win awards for its size. Yet despite the small land area, there…read moreare plenty of playgrounds for kids to choose from. This has a lot of them, and good climbing equipment. The park is best for the 5 to 12 year old age. There are some unique playground parts to play on. I like the trees. Am relieved this park is here. All around here development is alarming. Parking is no stress. This park is close to so many attractions. My hope is the county will modernize this one again soon. If you have little ones who can wear you out, this should make them exhausted. That alone means please visit!

This review is for the splash pad and playground. The incredibly awesome and very, very free splash…read morepad and playground. This new splash pad and playground serves as a reminder that damn Loudon County has some money. We got here at noon with our toddler and only planned to spend a couple of hours and ended up basically being here until they closed in the middle of summer at 8 PM. I think it's an amazing design to have three playground design for different ages right near the splash pad. Luckily it was like 5000° out so kids dried off the minute they left the waterpark to go to playgrounds. So being a wet mess really wasn't a concern. There are a few rules to the waterpark that includes no toys and no dogs and the standard diaper requirements for the incontinent , but otherwise it's pretty open and people were really really well behaved. The bathrooms are amazingly clean for a public bathrooms and offer wide enough stalls to change in. It's highly recommended because of temperatures and the fact that most of the place is concrete to wear water shoes. The only issue we had was that a baby kept putting wet banana peels like this was Mario kart in the splash pad and people kept tripping on them. Most of the water features are well functioning and a lot of fun. The playground themselves range from ages 5 to 12, and have a lot of hills with Astroturf, which is kind of fun to just roll down and they have slides built into them. There are a lot of climbing activities. The slides do get hot on a sunny day, but since the kids are already wet from the waterpark, they seem fine. And the park is very clean. We went on a weekday and it wasn't really that crowded, but I can see how weekends could be pretty full. They also have lots of tables for our families to sit down and enjoy some picnic items.

My kids love it. It's clean and lots of parking space and well maintained. It's worth visiting.read more

It's a nice place to hang out with the family and cool off. Great spot for the kiddos to, not to…read moredeep till you go further out.

A little gem. This is a small but nice little place to go that's not far if you live in the area…read more It's great for little kids with no waves. The water is never freezing. If you want to go to a 'sandy beach' area that's not far this is the place. It can quickly get crowded and parking does fill up quickly so go early. The bathroom are clean.