places where you won't be able to wipe the wag off your dog's tail - Fort Belvoir Military Base VA
The Park
The refuge was established in 1979 to protect sensitive wetlands and wildlife habitats associated with Accotink Bay and to provide opportunities for environmental education and low-intensity recreation. In 1988, Fort Belvoir established a second refuge, the Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge, to protect another sensitive wetland area. Abbott was an army engineer whose ornithological illustrations were chosen to appear on a duck stamp. Today, more than one-third of the installation’s acreage has been preserved as a designated wildlife sanctuary encompassing over 1,300 acres.
The Walks
There are some fifteen short, intersecting trail segments on both sides of the Accotink Creek to explore with your dog here. The going can be a bit rough at times, especially along the creek where the narrow bands of pathway can be overgrown or muddy in wet times but overall this is easy going with some mild ups and downs. The highlight ramble in the refuge is the Beaver Pond Trail loop that slips past several small ponds filled with turtles and frogs. For a longer leg stretcher head down the Great Blue Heron Trail to a bird blind on the Accotink Bay. Across the suspension bridge are miles of dirt trails in the hardwood forest that was once used for target ranges. The Abbott Wetland Refuge has a one-mile asphalt trail with an observation deck overlooking the wetland area.
Where The Paw Meets The Earth: Natural surface and asphalt
Workout For Your Dog - Easy trotting
Swimming - Accotink Creek is a great spot
Restrictions On Dogs - None
Something Extra
The bridge across the Accotink Creek linking the trail system was built by D Company of the 11th Engineer Battalion.
Phone - (703) 806-4007
Admission Fee - None
Directions - Fort Belvoir Military Base, Fairfax County; from I-95 take the Fort Belvoir/ Newington exit to the southern leg of the Fairfax County Parkway (Route 7100). Follow the parkway east approximately 3 miles until its end at Richmond Highway (Route 1). Turn left onto Route 1 and at the first light make a right into Tulley Gate. Follow to the refuge main entrance ahead on the right. Before that, the first parking lot you see is for the short handicap accessible trail; the second leads to the heart of the trail system. Access to the base can be limited without notice.
