The Accotink/Cross County Connector Trail

The Accotink trail is the most interesting trail I've written on yet, and is actually becoming one of my favorites.  The trail itself goes back and forth from being pavement, to concrete, to packed gravel, to loose gravel, to dirt, and for a very short stretch even runs through a loose, sandy beach.  The trail crosses the Accotink Creek a few times, and for two of the crossings you pretty much have to ford the river, which is interesting.  There's a couple points where mountain bike trails branch off from the main trail and into the woods, with much rougher paths.  I assume because of the varied terrain, the trail is a lot less crowded than the W&OD or Mount Vernon trail, and while there are occasionally other bikers, most of the people who are on the trail are runners/walkers.  In addition to being much less crowded, the trail runs through pretty much entirely park and thick forest, which means most of the trail is shady, another big plus as it gets warmer.

The trail starts about two miles south of house.  It runs east for a little bit until it hits the beltway, and then cuts south down to Lake Accotink.  Theoretically some of that is the Cross County Connector (CCC) Trail which runs from the Occoquan river in the southern corner of Fairfax up to the Potomac in the northern corner.  North of our house though, the CCC is really just a walking/hiking path, and you can't easily bike it (I tried once and ended up walking my bike out of the woods).  Past Lake Accotink the CCC trail continues and is bikeable, although I've never quite made it to the end.  4-5 miles after the lake, the trail goes through streets and winds its way over a couple highways.  I've gotten lost there the few times I've been down that far, each time making it a little further than the last.  The last time I went I finally found where the trail is supposed to go, but by the time I did I needed to turn back.  I think if I did make it to the end it would be about 20 miles from my house - a perfect weekend round trip ride.

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