Best Trails near Arlington County, Virginia

Well marked trail with some helpful stepping stones. Crosses stream and if water is low, easy crossings. Stream leads to Potomac river and the Heritage trail with nice views. Also passes under George Washington Parkway, lots of plane traffic from National Airport and people with unleashed dogs tearing around.

Good ride, but pretty strenuous for an "Easy" trail, at least on a touring bike. I tackled this one early afternoon on Labor Day with temps in the mid- to upper-80s and humidity around 55%. There are several significant hills, if not in grade then in length. I will admit I had to walk my bike to the top of one of them toward the end of the ride. Moderately trafficked closer to the Potomac; relatively light elsewhere. Did the out-and-back in the reverse, which took me 31:48 heading east (mostly downhill, fresh legs), but 44:53 heading west (mostly uphill, getting tired). Road bikers beware, the western-most half mile or so as depicted on the AllTrails route map is on a narrow, crushed gravel path through Isaac Crossman Park. Better on at least a hybrid but best on a mountain bike. Or you can just bypass it altogether. Not sure it's intended for anything other than foot traffic anyway.

Hot daytime ride. Kat’s battery ran out on the far side.

Nice trail to have in this area but the description of "lightly trafficked" is mistaken, at least in the Falls Church area of the trail. It's actually heavily used, particularly on weekends, and during the week many of the bicyclists are commuters, so you need to keep to the right and keep your wits about you if you are running on the trail.

There is a trail closed sign at the trail head on Rosevelt Island, what this means is really questionable, but maybe the trail is really closed?? Maybe it should be. Anyway my party and I went to the next trail accessible spot at the Potomac Overlook Regional Park and went down the Donaldson Run. Much of this trail crosses back and forth across a steam which would make this very difficult during high water, there were several trees down and the trail blazes were hard to follow. Once we got to the Potomac Heritage Trail we found much of the same, trees down, rock slides, areas where if the water was high would be impossible. There is one spot where a tree has fallen and taken out an important section of railing. It was fun and challenging but certainly not the urban hike I was envisioning. We laughed at our circumstances many times. Boots, hiking stick, water, and a downloaded map are a must.

Not a bad walk. I went roughly four miles with my dog on a Saturday morning. Very few trash cans for waste bags, little to no shade, and mostly bikers. I probably won’t take my dog on this one again, but it wasn’t a bad morning.

It was difficult to follow this trail with quiet a few bifurcations at every turn and it ended up being a moderate version than easy. Dog friendly trail, it has rocks and stream...slippery conditions...so be careful as dogs can get hurt running on these rocks.

Don’t let the name fool you there is no overlook view except possibly in the winter months. Lots of dogs off leash and trail not well marked. Needed gps on all the time. Combined with Donaldson run and white trail to make a 3 mile loop

Lots of dogs off leash, trail not well marked, no view of river.

Good hike but get used to hearing airplanes every minute

beautiful and most easiest for hiking and biking.

Beautiful environment! We were challenged finding trail blazes, but we made it through! Went white to pink, I think, quick adventure. Very little traffic for a 70° Sunday morning, very little trash!

Smaller segment of the 45-mile W&OD Trail. This is a pretty good stretch w/o too many stops. Fair amount of traffic.

I bike this all the time. Relatively level and sporadic stops in some areas, so you can build momentum and speed. Pretty well trafficked.

from the base of Windy Run and the Potomac to the top of Potomac Overlook Park

Decent trail but a lot of debree comes up from the highway and it’s fairly hilly. Not very scenic either.

This was a great little trail. I’d highly recommend it for a city getaway. You can still hear cars and airplanes throughout but still a relatively peaceful hike. I hiked on Easter Sunday and it wasn’t busy at all. Trail was really well maintained and would be a great one for kiddos.

Bridges washed out in a few areas and you have to walk through the creek or on slippery rocks

Did this trail back in March. Started out on the streets, trail head was hard to identify and did not expect to be walking through the city, but after we got through that there was a nice wide paved way (although heavily trafficked with bikers and runners) that wound around a stream and had the illusion of seclusion. One section went through the woods and was difficult with a stroller, but next time we would avoid that. Overall, it was a easy walk and ended up being a pleasant experience for my family.

Did this trail after a big snow storm. Hiked from Cherrydale area, through Potomac Overlook Park, and from there to Roosevelt Island. A nice remote hike in the middle of the city.

I'm a big fan of this trail for biking. It's relatively level, well maintained and not terribly trafficked. There are a few crossings, but cars tend to stop for you, even when they have the right of way.