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The Washington and Old Dominion Trail is a 45 mile paved rail trail across Northern Virginia, running from Shirlington in Arlington County west through Falls Church, Vienna, Reston, Herndon, Ashburn and Leesburg to Purcellville in Loudoun County. It follows the roadbed of the W&OD Railroad, which is also a Dominion Energy power line corridor, so the eastern miles are urban and busy while the Loudoun miles open into farmland. The grade is rail-trail gentle, climbing steadily toward Clarks Gap on Catoctin Mountain west of Leesburg. A crushed stone bridle path runs beside the pavement for the western 32 miles. Mile markers, restored depots and three cabooses mark the railroad it replaced.
Washington and Old Dominion Trail
Your comfort. Prognosticated.
-Cory
Plan your visit to this trail. Get the best windows for a comfortable outing.
Enjoy the Washington and Old Dominion Trail!
By 1845 canal boats were working Goose Creek up to Ball's Mill, and twelve years later the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad put that canal out of business. Chartered in 1847 to carry commerce from the Alexandria seaport inland, the line laid its first rails in Alexandria in 1855 and aimed through Clarke's Gap toward the coal fields of Hampshire County. The first train reached Leesburg on May 17, 1860. A year later Union forces seized the road and ran it as part of the U.S. Military Railroad. Rails reached Purcellville in 1874. In 1894 the new Southern Railway took control. As the Washington and Old Dominion, the line electrified and ran as an interurban carrying passengers, mail, milk and freight, with three trains a day between Alexandria, Falls Church, Leesburg and Purcellville. The last passenger car ran on May 31, 1951. In August 1968 the Interstate Commerce Commission ordered the railroad to cease operations, and the Virginia Electric and Power Company bought the right of way for its transmission lines. The first stretch of trail opened in Falls Church on September 7, 1974. VEPCO agreed in 1977 to sell the corridor to the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority for 3.6 million dollars, and the purchase closed in 1982. NOVA Parks opened the final nine miles into Purcellville on November 5, 1988. The trail now carries millions of riders a year along with a parallel bridle path.
