Get to know a part of Northern Virginia that has all but disappeared. Hike a gentle trail to an old pyrite mine, watch birds and listen to their calls, scan the ground for wildflowers, spend the night in a historic cabin—all within Prince William Forest Park’s 15,000-plus acres of woodland.

This park protects four-fifths of the Quantico Creek watershed. Quantico Creek and the South Fork of Quantico Creek flow through the park collecting water from rain, springs, and small tributaries. Together they drain more than 20 square miles of woodland within the park. About midway through their courses, both forks of the creek cut deep valleys and cascade over steep
erosion-resistant rocks as they drop from the Piedmont Plateau to the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Near the park’s eastern edge the two branches join, and the creek flows with greater force across the Catoctin greenstone. A few miles downstream of the confluence, Quantico Creek meets the tidewater of the Potomac River, which in turn drains into Chesapeake Bay. As you sit by one of the creeks and watch the waters flow past, keep in mind that all natural and human activities within this watershed affect the quality and quantity of water that ends up in the bay and the Atlantic Ocean.