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Firewood
Outside firewood is prohibited in Prince William Forest Park, unless it is certified USDA 'bug free' firewood. Any dead and downed wood can be collected in the park for in-park use. Help us protect the forest from invasive species!
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Oak Ridge Campground B and C Loops Full 5/26
The B and C Loops of Oak Ridge Campground are full for Saturday night, May 26th. A loop is a first come, first served loop of the campground so you can arrive early to get a site. Call the visitor center from 9 to 5 for a current A Loop site count.
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Sold Out of the Military Pass
We have sold out of our cache of the new InterAgency Military Pass. We have ordered 500 more and will post here and on our facebook/twitter pages when our shipment arrives.
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Warm Wet Spring = More Ticks
Please check yourself and your pets for ticks continually during and after your visit. Ticks are less prevelent if you stay on trail or in mowed areas. Wearing light colored clothing helps you spot them before the attach.
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Warm Wet Spring = More Ticks
Please check yourself and your pets for ticks continually during and after your visit. Ticks are less prevelent if you stay on trail or in mowed areas. Wearing light colored clothing helps you spot them before the attach.
Deer
White-tailed buck White-tailed deer can be found throughout Prince William Forest Park. They one of the shier members of the deer family and can be identified by white fur that is found on the underside of their tail. They wag their tail from side to side when they are nervous or fleeing. White-tailed deer are extremely swift and can run through thick forests at speeds of 30 mph. Their coats are reddish in the summer months, and in the winter their fur turns grayer, helping them blend in during the more colorless winter months. The male deer, or buck, grows a new set of antlers every spring. Their antlers have a velvet coating on them which protects it during growth. The deer will rub the velvet off by rubbing their antlers on trees. The males use their antlers to fight each other during the fall mating season. By late winter, their antlers fall off, only to be replaced by a new set of antlers the following spring. All members of the deer family, such as, elk and moose, lose their antlers every year. Antlers are a bone and not a horn. Animals that have horns, such as goats, cattle and bison, never lose them and they do not form branches. In fact, antlers are one of the fastest growing tissues in the animal kingdom, as they may grow up to ½ an inch each day. This has led scientists to study the growth rate of antlers, to unlock the mysteries of fast growing cancer cells. |
Did You Know?
An owl's eyes are fixed in place because their large size provides no room for muscle. To compensate for this, it can turn its head in almost any direction and angle, including the ability to rotate its head nearly 280 degrees. By comparison, people can only turn their heads a mere 90 degrees!