This is a pretty body of water. As a park it's quite pleasant. The sad part is development is…read moreencroaching the area big time. What used to be a quiet place, isn't what it was. Yet this is a common theme in northern Virginia. Park employees are excellent though. I do like my times over here. Some of my best fishing trips used to be here. Whether it's overfishing or VGIF isn't stocking as much, I'm not sure what's going on. There are some walleye. Last few years I've caught some crappie, catfish, and bluegill. The bass caught have been small. Used to find the area by the water containment to be top notch. Now I use the walk our dock that's got a roof on it. This is a great structure to relax by the water, yet the fishing quality has dropped substantially.

Be careful if you go out to the wooded area. Lots of ticks this year. Make sure you are really…read morechecking we found 8 in one day

Northern Fauquier Community Park opened some time earlier in the year. I've been interested in this…read morepark for a while as it looks really nice when driving by on Route 55. But it was closed last time I went through Marshall as construction was not yet completed. It's located just off of Route 55 just east of beautiful, downtown Marshall, VA. It's open now, I visited yesterday as my neighbors were holding a birthday party for their 3 year old daughter at the park. They reserved a covered pavilion which had plenty of tables, a grill, and was close to lots of playground equipment for the mass of writhing kids attending the party and now running amok through the park. The park offers a lot of park amenities - from the park web site: "Open year-round, the park boasts 8 athletic fields including baseball, softball, soccer and football. The park also features two concession stands, 8 picnic shelters, an amphitheater, three playgrounds, a two mile paved multi-use trail, 3 indoor restrooms, fishing lake, meeting room and plenty of beautifully landscaped open space. Recreational programs are available for your enjoyment." I plan to come back to walk and hike, fish the lake, and maybe even grill out some time!

Impressive and beautiful regardless of the drizzly, foggy day. Out to jog someplace new, plus get…read moremy steps in. (fitbit). This park was one I had not yet been too and today I was on my own, so, NFCP it was! Pulled into the office area on the left at the enterance and read the map. 1.75 mile trail. Perfect. I wan't the only one out jogging in the rain either. - I was impressed that this park has 4 different locations with playground equipment. One with swings. 3 right next to restrooms that are actual builings. Not porta potties. I think I counted 2 consession stands next to 2 of the 4 playgrounds. Many shelters and standup grils to use. Some of these grills look huge! Very impressive; especially in the shelters by the lake. picnic tables outside the shelter areas as well. Also on site is an ampitheatre. I'm pretty sure this place gets crowded in the spring and summer just like the Warf in Warrenton. Today...it was not. - While jogging I could hear the trains whistling in the near distance. Ducks/geese wadling and quacking nearby. Even with the fog and being December you could see the beautiful ( I think ), Hawthorne trees (?) with their bright red berries. I had to google the tree. It was so pretty. -Check out my pictures but please note--It is Dec 26th and very foggy with a drizzling rain! If I hadn't already mentioned that!

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

I went on one of the monthly astronomy nights. The program was great and it was wonderful to see…read morethe stars at night I. This dark sky area. It was also exciting to look through the telescopes that many volunteers brought to share and see things like Jupiter and its moons, Venus in phase, and double stars! If you come for an astronomy nights, I recommend downloading an app about constellations and bringing a red light flashlight or using a red light app on your phone.

We stumbled upon this gem after visiting a nearby orchard. Just a gorgeous autumn afternoon to take…read morepictures. The Love sign is near the parking lot. We did not take advantage of the trails, but is definitely something to do in the future!

What a good HAWT time!…read more We came on a Saturday, mid August, and had a good, relaxing time. Besides the heat trying to take me out, I had absolutely no complaints. Front Royal Outdoors had their logistics in order from start (parking) to the brief bus ride, all the way to finish (exit). Our party all opted to do the deluxe tube (approximately $41 for the entire experience) that offered more support (a place to hold your beverage of choice) and the possibility to maximize on one's lazy river experience. As an FYI, every "order" of course came with a life jacket. The river itself was calm and effortless, for the most part. I think our experience was a little over 3.5 hours. My only recommendation would be to hydrate and find a time/date where the heat is not doing what it does best.... drains ya.

Everyone seemed very nice and helpful, even tossed in a cooler float for us (not that we really…read moreneeded one). The river was slow and low from the lack of rain. But, still fun! Upon returning to the car, discovered the keys had fallen out of the wet bag and into the river. I went to the river landing to see if they fell on the beach when I lifted the cooler float to carry it up the hill. Didn't see them there and one of the staff members told me to check the office and gave me a number to a locksmith. No one had turned in any keys and was offered no further assistants from the office staff. So, called the locksmith, took him over an hour to get there and almost as long to reprogram the key (lack of cell reception or WiFi). But, met the nicest people next door! Laverne and her brothers were very hospitable and friendly, offering us food, water and a warm fire to dry ourselves. We noticed that Bob (owner of FRO) drove down the parking lot and saw our vehicle and gear, then drove off. He didn't bother to get out of the truck, just paused at the vehicle and kept going. Not what I would call the best service, hence the three star review. I would give the neighbors 4 stars for going above and beyond being neighborly!

great lake for paddling or fishing…read more lots of smaller largemouth bass, but a developing population of larger ones. no gas motors are allowed. concrete boat ramp with a small floating dock and attached canoe/kayak launch. even when the parking area is crowded, I've never seen it full. & the lake looks empty even when the parking is full. limited shore fishing. some picnic tables & such. there are restrooms on the hill above the boat ramp. only flaws are a population of wasps at the dock that repeated complaints to the County have not resolved, and a tendency for all-about-me folks to park along the ramp (which is NOT a parking area, except for the small handicap area) or leave their vehicles there for extended periods.

Lake Mooney is technically a reservoir but it definitely has that lake feel and is perfect for…read morefishing or kayaking. Gas motor boats are not allowed; only electric motors are permitted on the lake. There's a boat ramp that is easy to get to. A few benches also line the shore. This is a great place for a picnic. I personally enjoy visiting late in the afternoon, as you can watch the sun set.

The off-leash dog park is mulch and good size plus separate space for small dogs. The park was…read moreclean. It had a pond. I saw people fishing and picnicking and it looked like there's a trail for hiking.

Good little dog park with a small and larger dog area. My lab loves to walk and run around off…read moreleash. Convenient parking and access.

Often times, the national parks get the best territory and the states get leftovers. However, the…read moreShenandoah River State Park, down the mountain from well known Skyline Drive and its accompanying federal parkland, is by no means inferior. A rural drive leads to a visitor center, trails, an overlook, river access, and campgrounds. I had time for only a brief visit, but the views were majestic. It would be an excellent place to return for a hike. As with most of Virginia's state parks, there is a modest entrance fee, but I'm sure it's well worth it.

I travel and stay at a lot of parks during the course of the year, and I have only repeated a few…read moreof them. This location is incredible, rich with things to do, views to see, and adventures to have with enough time. The cabins are gorgeous, fair warning that there is no television, but honestly who cares?! I had great phone signal which almost never happens on these excursions, and I loved making a fire in my fireplace and sitting on the porch with coffee for sunrise, which I could see from Cabin 11. This cabin also was at the end and felt private, even though I could see my neighbors (who had set up Christmas lights! How fun!) There's also a wonderful hiking trail right by these cabins, 10 and 11, the Red Tail Ridge, that was semi-short (2.5 miles or so if desired to create a loop with Big Oak) and had views of the river and Shenandoah valley below!