|
Glade Valley / Fox Mill
Reston Association
Fairfax
County Park Authority
Reston, VA
From northeast to southwest, this stretch of trails run
from the Lake Audubon Dam to Fox Mill District Park in Reston.
The trail passes through The Glade Steam Valley Park and Fox
Mill Woods Park.
Approximate Distance: 2 to 3 miles
Surface: Mostly dirt,
some asphalt, trail
Highlights: Occasional beaver sightings
along the Glade
Location
of trailheads
To run
this trail from the Lake Audubon Dam, start at the
intersection of Glade Drive and Twin Branches Road, in Reston,
Virginia. Follow an asphalt path down into The Glade Stream
Valley Park, which is maintained by the Reston Association.
The Glade Stream Valley Park contains both asphalt paths and
dirt trails, which run parallel to Glade Drive to the north to
parallel to Lawyers Road to the south.
 This trail
description follows the Glade, mostly on dirt trail, until
just east of Soapstone Drive. You find a map of the trail
system at the trailhead. Until reaching Soapstone, you pass
through the The Reston Association's Walker
Nature Education Center .
Along the Glade, run primarily on dirt path, occasionally
using asphalt as interconnecting paths.
Glade Stream East .
Follow the asphalt path from the trailhead, staying to the
north of the Glade, for about 1/2 mile. When you reach a left
bend in the path and a wooden bridge that crosses the Glade,
look for the dirt trail that branches to your right. Take the
dirt trail.
 Follow the
dirt trail until you reach another asphalt path at a
playground. Turn right, then left, on the asphalt path. After
a few hundred yards, you reach more dirt trail. Continue on
the dirt trail until you approach a road - Soapstone
Drive.
 Now bear
left to find the asphalt path running parallel to the south of
the dirt trail. Cross over the Glade on on one of several
small wooden bridges. Turn right on the asphalt path and
follow it to cross Soapstone Drive (photo looking back east to
west).
[Optional] You can add mileage by staying on the dirt
trail, crossing Soapstone Drive, and continuing on dirt trail
to the south of the Glade. This dirt trail leads you to
Steeplechase Drive before ending on asphalt trail.
 After
crossing Soapstone, follow the asphalt path for a couple
hundred yards until you see a small community of green utility
boxes. Turn left here onto the dirt trail. Run up the hill to
Lawyers Road. Cross Lawyers Road to a dirt path the continues
on the other side, entering Fox Mill Woods Park. The Lawyers
Road crossing can be found just west of Pinoak Lane.
After a few yards, cross a drainage ditch bordered by large
rocks. Continue to follow the dirt path until you reach
another road - Foxclove Drive. Cross Foxclove and continue on
the dirt trail, entering Fox Mill District Park.
Fox Mill District Park Map
.
Follow the path down to the stream bed, cross it, and then
follow the trail that leads up the hill to the right.
Every time I run this section of trails I seem to find a
different path leading through the maze of inerlaced trails
within Fox Mill District Park. When in doubt, turn right when
two paths connect. If that leads you astray, then back track
and take the next right.
Eventually, you arrive at a soccer field or parking lot
adjacent to Crossfield Elementary School. This represents the
southwest trailhead for this trail description.
For extra mileage, run the loop trails around Fox Mill
District Park. Friend and fellow runner Joyce Adams wrote
about this portion of the trail in an article for the
Washington Running Report - Foxmill District Park.
 To
continue to Little Difficult Run, do not turn right on the
dirt trails to find Crossfield ES. Instead, continue to a
wooden bridge that crosses Little Difficult Run and ends on a
horse trail (photo looking back from the horse trail). Turn
right on the horse trail until the trail turns left to run
parallel with Fox Mill Road.
Cross Fox Mill Road and find the trailhead to the Little
Difficult Run Stream Valley Park trail.
Other sources of information for this trail:
| 
