Prince William Forest Park
Encyclopedia
Recreational Demonstration Area
The Recreational Demonstration Area program was a National Park Service program during the 1930s and early 1940s that built forty-six public parks in twenty-four states on , chiefly near urban areas in the United States...
in 1936 and is located in southeastern Prince William County
Prince William County, Virginia
-National protected areas:* Featherstone National Wildlife Refuge* Manassas National Battlefield Park* Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge* Prince William Forest Park-Government and politics:...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, adjacent to the Marine Corps Base Quantico
Marine Corps Base Quantico
Marine Corps Base Quantico, sometimes abbreviated MCB Quantico, is a major United States Marine Corps training base located near Triangle, Virginia, covering nearly in southern Prince William County, northern Stafford County, and southeastern Fauquier County...
. The park is the largest protected natural area in the Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
metropolitan region at over 19000 acres (7,689 ha). Today, the park is a window into the past and serves as an example of what much of the East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
once looked like centuries ago.
The park serves as the largest example of Eastern Piedmont
Piedmont (United States)
The Piedmont is a plateau region located in the eastern United States between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the main Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New Jersey in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division...
forest in the National Park System (arguably, one of the most heavily altered ecosystems in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
). The park also protects the Quantico Creek
Quantico Creek
Quantico Creek is a tidal tributary of the Potomac River in eastern Prince William County, Virginia. Quantico Creek rises southeast of Independent Hill, flows through Prince William Forest Park and Dumfries and empties into the Potomac at Possum Point....
watershed
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
. It is a sanctuary for numerous native plant and animal species.
Recreational opportunities
A variety of recreational opportunities are available, which include:- Wildlife viewing of hiking trails. Most of these trails either go to a historical/cultural destination such as Pyrite Mine or follow Quantico Creek with views of its small waterfalls. of bicycle accessible roads and trails.
- Several tent camping options, including family, group and backcountry camping are available as well as rustic cabin camping, and a full-service, concessionaire-operated RV campground, are available.
Cultural resources
The park’s cultural resources are also varied. They include:- The remnants of JoplinJoplin, VirginiaJoplin is an extinct unincorporated town in Prince William County, Virginia. The town was located on land taken to form Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area and is now part of Prince William Forest Park, a National Park Service property located adjacent to Marine Corps Base Quantico. The...
, Hickory RidgeHickory Ridge, VirginiaHickory Ridge is an extinct unincorporated town in Prince William County, Virginia. The town was located on land that is now part of Prince William Forest Park, a National Park Service property located adjacent to Marine Corps Base Quantico...
, and BatestownBatestown, VirginiaBatestown is an extinct unincorporated town in Prince William County, Virginia. The town was located along the farthest terminus of Mine Road in what is now a western neighborhood of Dumfries along the banks of Quantico Creek. It was an enclave for freed slaves named for Mary Bates, the matriarch...
, three small communities existing prior to the park’s establishment - The reclaimed remnants of the Cabin Branch Pyrite Mine along Quantico Creek
- The reclaimed remnants of the GreenwoodGreenwood Gold Mine, Independent Hill, VirginiaThe Greenwood gold mine operated in Prince William County, Virginia, United States, near the town of Independent Hill for a few years before closing in 1885...
gold mine - Products of the Civilian Conservation CorpsCivilian Conservation CorpsThe Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...
(CCC), which built the facilities, roads and lakes during the 1930s - The U.S. Army’s Office of Strategic ServicesOffice of Strategic ServicesThe Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
(OSS) which used the land exclusively for training spies and radio operators between 1942 and 1945