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Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail

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Hiking trail in Virginia, United States
Cross County Trail in Great Falls Park
Cross County Trail crossing Accotink Creek

The Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail is a 40.5-mile hiking, biking and bridle trail in Fairfax County, Virginia that traverses the entire length of the county in an arc that begins and ends at different points near the Potomac River. The northern portion of the trail follows Difficult Run, while the southern half largely follows Accotink Creek and Pohick Creek.

The trail is a mix of paved, crushed gravel and natural surface trails that connects to the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail and the Washington and Old Dominion Trail.

The $6.5 milllion trail was conceived by hiking enthusiast Bill Niedringhaus in 1995, who noticed a nearly continuous stretch of publicly owned land across the county which already contained about 26 miles of discontinuos trail. Gerry Connolly, then Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, supported the effort and introduced a resolution to create the trail in 1998. In 2000, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors began funding the trail with $500,000 left over from a budget surplus.

The construction of the trail in the early 2000s was the largest construction project in the Fairfax County Park Authority's history and required the purchase of multiple pieces of land.. Work began in 2000. By 2004, 31.5 miles of the trail was complete. In 2004, the Park Authority bought 3 parcels, accounting for 31.74 acres, in the Accotink stream valley that linked other park properties and provided a link for the trail. The County Parks Authority started work on the Accotink Stream Valley Trail, part of which was also part of the Cross County Trail, in May of 2005. It, including three new concrete bridges was completed in June and then linked Fairfax City to Wakefield and Lake Accotink Parks. The trail between Pohick road in southern Fairfax County to Great Falls opened on December 17, 2005 with a small ribbon-cutting ceremony.

In 2014, it was named after Connolly.

References

  1. "75 Miles of Urban Singletrack: A Day on Fairfax's Cross County Trail". Singletracks Mountain Bike News. 2017-03-02. Retrieved 2020-10-12.
  2. ^ "Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail". Fairfax County Park Authority. Retrieved 2020-10-12.
  3. ^ Rein, Lisa (30 April 2005). "One by One, Fairfax Trails Being Woven Into 40-Mile Network". The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  4. ^ "Cross County Trail Opens". The Washington Post. 17 December 2005. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  5. McCaffrey, Raymond (11 September 2000). "Fairfax Funds Projects With Surplus". The Washington Post. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
  6. Pae, Peter (11 January 2000). "Open-Space Preservation Trust Proposed in Fairfax". The Washington Post. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
  7. "Cross County Trail Caucus Scheduled". The Washington Post. 15 January 2004.
  8. "Land Purchases Link Parks, County Trail". The Washington Post. 15 July 2004.
  9. "Accotink Stream Trail Soon to be Extended". The Washington Post. 14 April 2005.
  10. "Cross County Trail Meeting Scheduled". The Washington Post. 6 January 2005.
  11. "5 Tips for Hiking the Cross County Trail". Fun in Fairfax VA. 2020-03-01. Retrieved 2020-10-12.
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