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Cue Sheet for Entire Fairfax Cross-County Trail

POHICK CREEK NEAR POWERLINES:
Northbound: From southern end of the CCT (the "Cross-County" signpost), the stone-dust trail seems to dead-end at Pohick Creek when it reaches the power lines. To proceed north, backtrack a short distance and ascend along a dirt trail, to reach the power line clearing at the top of the hill. You will see an eroded trail leading back under the power lines 0.3 miles to Saratoga Elementary School. But to follow the CCT, scramble across the clearing and down a short very rugged area to where the improved trail continues flat along the stream bank. FTAS and FCPA plan to reroute this section with volunteers by June 2001.
Southbound, navigation is less difficult.

CROSSING FAIRFAX CO PARKWAY
Northbound: The Pohick Creek trail ends at the Fx Co Parkway, where you have two choices:
(OFFICIAL ROUTE) The official CCT route crosses the parkway at the light, turns right to follow an asphalt trail briefly along the Parkway, then bearing left to follow the utility lines. At Rolling Road, turn right and cross the street, continue along cloverleaf and north side of Parkway (mostly an asphalt trail, but the first bit on the cloverleaf is dirt). Finally, turn left along Hunter Village Drive, then turn right onto an asphalt trail along a tributary which takes you down to Accotink Creek, which you follow northward on the west bank.
(UNOFFICIAL ROUTE) A more wooded and scenic (but much more challenging) route was actually used on all the Cross-County Hikes so far. You scramble under the Parkway on the east bank of Pohick Creek (there is no real trail under the bridge, but just follow the creek). After 0.1 mile you cross a small streamlet, where a dirt trail begins. It hugs the east bank of Pohick Creek for another 0.1 mile, then crosses a rip-rap lined tributary and climbs 50 feet to a small stormwater pond opposite some condominiums. Avoid the asphalt trail farther up the hill (which dead-ends). Instead, skirt the pond and descend steeply 15 feet to the stream bank (you'll need to hold a tree for balance!) It now gets easy! Follow the trail another 0.1 mile across the wooded flood-plain till you reach another tributary. Don't ascend the steep trail, instead follow a switchback (right, left, and right again along the ridge), and emerge on Barnack Drive. If you have trouble navigating this route, try starting at Barnack Drive. To rejoin the official route, follow the Barnack Drive sidewalk, turn right along Springfield Villa Road for one-third of a mile, crossing Rolling Road. Finally you turn left between 7th and 8th houses after Brisbane Street, at the Park Authority sign. You immediately cross a streamlet and turn RIGHT at a 4-way trail junction. You will follow this streamlet through parkland all the way to Accotink Creek. After 0.2 miles you cross Lobelia Lane; trail continues on the left. After another quarter-mile you reach Hunter Village Drive; cross and a little to the left you'll see a steep asphalt trail angling down between some condominiums and a park; after another 0.1 mile you'll reach the main Accotink Creek trail.
Southbound: navigation is somewhat easier on both routes southbound, just do in reverse.

CROSSING OLD KEENE MILL ROAD NORTHBOUND:
(OFFICIAL ROUTE) Cross at the light at Hunter Village Rd, proceed along the Old Keene Mill Road sidewalk, crossing Accotink Creek and turning left into the driveway to the Little League fields (ROUTE USED FOR CROSS-COUNTY HIKE) We avoided the longest segment along Old Keene Mill Rd by staying on the south side of the road on its bridge over the Accotink (it's not a sidewalk, but an unused road shoulder here). Then we scrambled over the guard rail and down the meadow back to the bridge, and went under the bridge. On the north side is a trail leading to the Little League fields. (ULTIMATE ROUTE) The FCPA plans to build a new fairweather crossing so you won't reach Old Keene Mill Road at all; you'll be in the park the whole way. Don't hold your breath however; this won't be done till the entire "Phase One" CCT is officially in place.

LITTLE LEAGUE (OFF OLD KEENE MILL) TO LAKE ACCOTINK (NORTHBOUND)
There is a maze of trails throughout the area, but they pretty much all go the same way, as long as you stay in the main flood plain. Accotink Creek takes a wide loop, so the shorter route is to take the right fork at the first major "Y" after the Little League (the two forks diverge gradually), then a sharp right at the 4-way trail junction under the utility lines. You'll go up a hill past some houses, then down, and back into the maze of flood plain trails. The closer you get to Lake Accotink, the better the trail.

LAKE ACCOTINK AND WAKEFIELD PARK (NORTHBOUND)
This section is easy and well-used. Stay on the east side of the lake and Accotink Creek, go under Braddock Road. For refreshments and restrooms stay on the main trail (it's also possible to "stay in the bush" along dirt trails that go under the power lines). From the snack bar, go behind the ball fields and head back toward the power lines and creek; follow the main trail under the powerlines. After awhile you have the option of using winding dirt trails through the woods nearer the creek, if you get tired of looking at the power facility. Eventually all routes converge on the main trail. Cross Accotink Creek at the major trail bridge, which is 1.1 miles north of the Wakefield Recreation Center. Continue north 0.2 miles to a little- used road called the "Accotink Parkway". About halfway is a tributary with a damaged but usable fairweather crossing (you'll have to detour some distance up it), or (if you have good balance) you can cross it along a fallen log.

ROUTE 236 UNDERPASS (Little River Pkwy) TO KING ARTHUR DRIVE (PARKING NEAR 236)
There is ample parking here, a good rendezvous point. Driving west on 236, take 1st left after Beltway and immediate left, to "Americana Park" with ball fields. It is actually part of Wakefield Park.
NORTHBOUND: The CCT here will be upgraded to asphalt, hopefully by the end of 2002. For now, it is a fairly difficult section to navigate. It is very noisy due to the nearby Beltway. It crosses under three bridges: a 236 ramp, 236 itself, and another ramp. Go to the edge of the creek, you will find a dirt "road" going under the first bridge. Look closely, under the bridge you'll see a "trail" of flatter rocks among the boulders. After the bridge, you may follow the main dirt trail along the creek, but it is a little nicer if you bear left after the bridge, climbing to a flat trail through pines. After about 500 feet it rejoins the lower trail just south of the 2nd bridge. Cross under it, and you again have a choice: stay on the flat trail, or bear left up a "stair" to a somewhat nicer trail further from the roads. Again the upper trail rejoins the lower after about 500 feet just before the 3rd bridge. Once past the last bridge, cross the meadow under the power lines. There is a trail that may become overgrown in spring. When you re-enter the woods, follow a stairway down to Accotink Creek, where you can cross on a series of boulders (if the water is not too high). Continue eastward and you'll soon reach a 3-way trail intersection, turn left (north) There is one more very tricky turn on your way to King Arthur Road. About 0.4 miles north of the ford, you cross a wooden bridge and start moving away from the Beltway. After another 0.1 mile you reach a grass clearing. Continue across it, and then immediately turn sharply left to cross a rickety wood bridge (if you miss the turn you will soon dead-end on a residential street). It's another 0.4 miles west to King Arthur Drive.

KING ARTHUR DRIVE TO PICKETT ROAD, FAIRFAX CITY
Navigation here is fairly easy, mostly it is asphalt. There are several asphalt side trails, but generally keep near the east bank of the Accotink. As of December 2000 the FCPA is just finishing a new asphalt section to complete the trail to Fairfax City's Thaiss Park off Pickett Road.

PICKETT ROAD TO OAK MARR (NORTHBOUND):
(OFFICIAL ROUTE) Follow sidewalks up Pickett Rd, Blake Lane, and Jermantown Road to Oak Marr. (ROUTE USED FOR CROSS-COUNTY HIKE) After going through tunnel, cross a footbridge in first quarter mile. Another quarter mile, cross another footbridge, and take trail under Old Lee Highway. Cross another footbridge just before coming up to Lee Highway. Turn left on Lee Highway, cross at Draper Rd., keep going on Lee Highway, go over stone bridge, and then turn right into grass area with a bench. Ford the creek at the back left of the grass area, go right a few steps, then left for 300 yards of a grass clearing towards some town houses. Before town houses, go left across footbridge into Ranger Rd. Park, then a quick right on gravel trail. Go 200 yards, turn right off gravel trail to ford creek and you will find a dirt trail. Go a couple hundred yards and the trail will go up hill angling left then at top curve to the right and go downhill to Stafford Dr. Cross road, take trail which goes up hill and to the left to the ridge line. At this point, stay right and follow ridgeline. After a minute, there will be a little dip to the left, but you go back right to the ridgeline for another minute until it starts angling downhill towards the creek. Trail will follow left side of creek briefly to Plantation Pkwy (7-11).

Cross Plantation Pkwy, go to right side of creek and drop down into long grass clearing. Follow clearing for quarter mile as a brown office building comes into sight ahead of you. Before the building, the clearing will go to the right. Follow this. Just at the private backyard of a house, ford creek, travel on left side for 100 yards, then ford back to right side of creek. At this point you will see through the trees on the left the parking lot structure of the office building. Go to the end of the trail on the right side of the creek, then ford back over to the left again. After fording, go slightly left on trail away from the creek for 25 yards, then right on the trail that goes under an abandoned swingset and up to the Topkapi Restaurant (abandoned). Turn left on service road, right on Eaton Rd, and cross 123.

After crossing 123, turn right on Oak St, left on Norman Ave, go a mile, turn left on Hill St, right on Carol, right on Jermantown, go a mile to Oak Marr rec center on left.

OAK MARR TO MILLER HEIGHTS ROAD NORTHBOUND:
From the Oak Marr parking lot a dirt road extends parallel to Jermantown Road. After 0.1 mile it ends in a meadow which is visible from Jermantown. You cross the meadow and enter woods, follow the trail as it bends to the right and downhill. After about 0.2 miles you will see, through the woods, the golf driving range and cross two trails in quick succession. Don't turn on the first, but turn left at the second trail, descending 0.2 miles to Rocky Run. You cross and go back uphill (0.1 miles) where you'll meet a bigger trail, turn left, then pretty quickly turn right on less conspicuous trail (if you reach a lawn you've missed it). The CCT winds upward to the saddle point and descends 0.3 miles to Miller Hts Road. Over the last 0.1 miles are several tricky junctions. You'll cross a tributary at a point where you can see homes on either side, closer than before. Perhaps a hundred feet beyond, look out for a less conspicuous trail leading right and down. If you miss it, you'll end up in someone's back yard. When you get to the bottom of the hill, you'll see Miller Heights Road, but the last couple hundred feet is difficult. To stay on public land, keep fairly close to the house on Miller Heights on your left. There is a swampy area at the very end, with stepping stones.

MILLER HEIGHTS ROAD TO VALE ROAD:
At Miller Heights Road, turn right along the shoulder for almost 1/2 mile, then left at the "Difficult Run Stream Valley Park" sign. At the next trail intersection turn right. Then, for the next 2 1/2 miles, generally keep left (to follow Difficult Run); trails to the right generally lead to the neighborhoods. You come to a long stretch with relatively open country on your left (across Difficult Run) and a hillside on the right. Then the trail veers right to follow a streamlet. Go upstream a few hundred feet and turn left to cross the stream. FTAS volunteers attempted to build a crossing here but it washed out. There is a convenient big double log which is crossable. The Park Authority plans a fiberglass bridge here sometime in 2005. Then follow the trail up the hill, down again, across a stepping stones (built by FTAS, MORE and Hunters Valley Riding Club in Nov. 2003). Follow the CCT signs up to Vale Road.

VALE ROAD TO LEEDS ROAD RIDING RING (NORTHBOUND):
When you reach Vale Road hiking north, there is an asphalt path parallel to the road. Turn left on it, passing over a bridge over Difficult Run, to Valestra Court, the first street. Cross Vale Road on the crosswalk (installed in summer 2004). The CCT continues north starting at a point between the end of the crosswalk and the gravel driveway into Camp Crowell. This section was constructed in spring and summer 2004. It stays in the woods, skirting a pasture on the right hand side (horses graze there) and a swamp on the left. When the pasture gives way to woods, the trail angles sharply right and then left, and soon comes back to Difficult Run, following it upstream. The woods ends in fields and more pastures, continue to the equestrian facility. There is a gravel road crossing Difficult Run; this provides CCT access from Hunter Mill Road.

LEEDS ROAD RIDING RING TO LAWYERS ROAD (NORTHBOUND):
Take the trail between the riding ring and Difficult Run, continuing 0.4 miles. Then make a sharp left turn (at a 3-way trail junction), and then (after 100 yards of the most badly eroded trail on the CCT) turn right going steeply uphill. About two-thirds of the way up the short, steep slope, turn left (this turn is very easy to miss, since the main trail is much more prominent). The trail to the left ascends more gently and soon bears gradually to the right, near the top of the hill. It descends in a long straight stretch. You will see a single large house on the right, and several houses up a hill on the left. The trail stays on the public strip of parkland in between. Once you are well past the house on the right, the trail gradually bends around to the left, descending to the flood plain of Little Difficult Run. The most obvious trail goes straight and begins climbing; equestrians can take this and ford Little Difficult Run further west. Hikers should turn right (before the trail climbs again). There are stepping stones enabling hikers to cross the stream. On the north side, turn left for 0.1 miles and then right along a tributary. Over the next 0.2 miles to Lawyers Road, the trail climbs to the top of an old storm dam, passes a major blowdown, bends to the right and uphill, then left midway up the hill, then descends to a dry stream (the water is underground), crosses it and turns right parallel to it, bends left around a blowdown and right again to cross the dry stream, then left along the dry stream, and finally bears right out to Lawyers Road. Almost directly across Lawyers you will see the CCT's continuation along a Reston bike trail.

LAWYERS ROAD TO TWIN BRANCHES ROAD, RESTON NORTHBOUND:
The CCT, asphalt along this segment, starts at Lawyers Road just east of November Ct (north side) / Birdfoot Lane (south side) and descends 0.1 mile to the valley of The Glade. At the bottom you turn LEFT, then quickly right, over the bridge, and follow the trail to the right again for a half mile, staying on the main (asphalt) trail to reach Twin Branches Road near Lake Audubon.

TWIN BRANCHES ROAD TO W&OD, RESTON NORTHBOUND:
Opposite the asphalt trailhead just south of Lake Audubon, you will see a wide dirt/gravel road that angles to the left. Follow it up the hill and then down steeply. At the bottom it becomes flat and bends to the right. After 0.2 mile the trail forks and you go left across a wooden bridge. Continue along this rather wet trail for a quarter mile until it climb to a clearing along a ridge (an earthen dam). It re-enters the woods at a 4-way trail intersection. To follow the CCT, you may go either straight (steep but dry), or right (flat but muddy). Navigation is easiest if you go right and downhill. The trail quickly flattens and turns left. After 0.3 mile is a wooden bridge; cross and turn left along a major Reston trail. It gradually climbs to the W&OD, but after 0.1 mile you may take a short cut to the right up a very steep slope. When you reach the W&OD, turn right toward Hunter Mill Road.

W&OD to DULLES ACCESS ROAD
NORTHBOUND: From Hunter Mill Road, go east along the W&OD horse trail. After a quarter- mile, turn left on an asphalt trail into Tamarack Park (before crossing Difficult Run). Soon you will see grassy ball fields on your right. The CCT trailhead is at the farthest point visible on the grass. It is behind an isolated tree at the far end. Once in the woods, the CCT in the next 0.1 mile quickly turns left, then right, then right again at a 3-way intersection. You are now following the base of a hill on your left. After a couple hundred feet turn left at a trail leading gently up the hill. There are no significant side trails for the next quarter-mile. You then cross a wooden footbridge, and climb a couple hundred feet to reach a bluff overlooking Difficult Run, with good views of the remote square mile of parkland on the far side. A short descent leads back to the flood plain. (If you are coming SOUTHBOUND here you need to be on the lookout for the bear-right uphill.) For another quarter-mile you continue north with Difficult Run on the right and the wooded cliffs to the left. Beaver are active here and there may be blowdowns. Then the trail enters denser forest and bears to the right. After about 200 feet it reaches a clearing and a 3-way trail intersection, where you will see a streamlet just ahead. If you are riding, take the right branch, ford the streamlet; continue north to a major stonedust trail and turn right. If you are walking, take the left branch; after 100 feet, turn right; you will see stepping stones across the streamlet. Continue another 100 feet to the stonedust trail, and turn right. Follow the stone-dust trail about 0.15 miles to its fairweather crossing of Difficult Run. (NOTE: If you are coming SOUTHBOUND here, its very easy to miss the turn off the stonedust trail; if you can see the stormwater pond, you've gone too far). Cross Difficult Run and go up the concrete ramp, then turn sharply left. After maybe 150 feet you cross another tributary on a one- plank bridge and reach a T-intersection. Take the left branch back to Difficult Run and follow the trail around to the right. This area is very muddy, and there is a maze of trails. You'll see the Dulles Access Road through the trees on your left, but generally aim for the higher ground on your right. About 0.15 miles after crossing Difficult Run, you reach a 3-way trail junction. .To the right a trail leads to a cul-de-sac (and car access to the CCT). The CCT follows the left branch, crossing under the Dulles Access Road after another 0.1 mile.

DULLES ACCESS ROAD to BROWNS MILL ROAD
NORTHBOUND: An old stone-dust trail (in bad repair) leads several hundred feet from the underpass to an asphalt trail. Turn left, and keep left at the next two 3-way asphalt-trail junctions, to reach Browns Mill Road. SOUTHBOUND, the last right turn to the Dulles underpass may be hard to spot due to overgrowth

BROWNS MILL ROAD TO LEESBURG PIKE
NORTHBOUND: The Browns Mill Road crossing is the most dangerous one on the CCT except for Vale Road. You must cross both the road and its bridge over Difficult Run. Going north, on the west side of Difficult Run, (carefully!) step over the guard rail and drop down to the flood plain. On your left is a housing development whose builder is responsible for the stonedust trail you will follow to the north. The first part is in pretty bad condition, sometimes becoming overgrown with reeds ( it is supposed to be improved soon). It bends immediately a little to the left, then goes straight-arrow for 0.4 miles, and finally bends a little to the right. It ends at a wood fence. You turn left along the far side of the fence, crossing a swampy streamlet over two wood planks, and continues along a low ridgelet. After 100 feet, it descends to the flood plain and there are no side trails for the next 0.4 miles. It does wind around a lot and can be hard to follow if it is overgrown. The terrain alternates between woods and meadow, at one point passing between two dogwood trees. It emerges at Carpers Farm Road very near to the light at Leesburg Pike. Cross the Pike and head left to reach Colvin Run Mill Park (the first water/restrooms since Oak Marr), or right along the service road to continue along the CCT to Great Falls Park. SOUTHBOUND: The most difficult is finding the trailhead at the Carpers Farm Road light. Walking along Carpers Farm Road away from the light at Route 7, you'll see the Rails-to-River trail immediately on the right, and just opposite, another (worse) trail to the left parallel to 7. The CCT uses neither, instead angling 45 degrees between the latter trail and Carpers Farm Road. The first 30 feet are through a meadow which gets overgrown, but then it enters woods. Navigation is fairly easy to Browns Mill Road.