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Fountainhead Park, located in Fairfax Station Virginia, offers mountain bikers one of the most popular trails in the region. Visitors to this Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority Park are offered a fast, fun and challenging mountain bike experience. The trail system is truly a unique experience for this area.
However, over the years the mountain bike trails at Fountainhead have become increasingly less sustainable and harder to maintain. Many of the trails are washed out and severely eroded. While this can provide a challenging ride to some users, it can be detrimental to the environment and to the long term sustainability of the trail.
The Mid Atlantic Off Road Enthusiasts (MORE), the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (NVRPA), and the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) all met to discuss the issues surrounding the mountain bike trails at Fountainhead. MORE, through a grant from the Conservation Fund, hired IMBA's Trail Solutions to put together a Conceptual Trail Plan to address all of the needs of the trail and the trail users. This plan has been approved by NVRPA and it is posted on this website. Although the plan recommends that the trail system be redesigned to promote sustainability, it does so with the direct imperative to keep the trails challenging and fun. It also recommends that length of the trail be increased from slightly over 7 miles to 12 to 15 miles. Much of the original Fountainhead Trail will remain after the project is complete. However, the trail will be significantly enhanced by adding a stacked looped system, interpretive skills areas, sustainable challenging trail features, and increased mileage.
If you would like to volunteer to help with this project and be on the Fountainhead Project List serve, please sign up by going here. We are also in need of donations to complete this project. Your generous contribution will go directly to the Fountainhead Trail Project and all donations are tax deductible. |