Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park
The Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park and Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Trail ( sometimes abbreviated as W & OD Trail or W & OD and often simply as "the WOD " (pronounced " wad " ) referred to ) is a very famous and oddly shaped regional park in Northern Virginia. The special feature of the park is a paved path that was built on the route of the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad, which passes through densely populated cities and suburbs.
Although the park 72 km (45 miles ) long, which is approximately 30 meters wide. The paved path is almost continuously about three feet wide and suitable for walking, jogging, cycling, and inline skating. A gravel path runs for riding 52 km long parallel to the paved path.
The path starts at the border of Arlington County and the City of Alexandria, VA, at exit 6 off Interstate 395 in Shirlington. The path is connected at its origin with the asphalt Four Mile Run Trail, which runs east through Arlington along a river mouth where it meets the Mount Vernon Trail at Ronald Reagan National Airport near the Potomac River. This is also the lowest altitude of the entire path ( 42.98 m).
The path runs mostly parallel to the Potomac River and the Virginia State Route 7 He leads northwestward by Purcellville ( Loudoun County), including through Arlington, Falls Church, Fairfax County, Vienna, Reston, Herndon, Sterling, Ashburn, Leesburg, Paeonian Springs and Hamilton.
In addition, the path runs mostly next to a power line of Dominion Virginia Power. The path reaches its highest elevation ( 185.93 m) at the summit of Clarks Cap in Catoctin Mountain, west of Leesburg. There, near ( Mile 38.2) leads the way with an old stone overpass, the Virginia State Route 7 led over the train track once.
The Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority ( NVRPA ) manages and maintains the park and its trails. NVRPA a large portion of the area of the park in its natural state. Alongside the path some information boards were set up that describe the historical and natural features of the park.