Fairfax County General :
Fairfax Underground
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Lake Accostink in danger of becoming no more
Posted by:
Fox News
()
Date: June 18, 2016 10:48AM
A canoe ride or hike around Lake Accotink in Springfield is a summertime staple for many Fairfax County residents. The 55-acre lake and the 493-acre wooded park surrounding it offer ample opportunities for recreation and wildlife viewing, an ideal location to spend a warm, lazy afternoon or to get away to after a tedious day at the office.
However, as serene and idyllic as everything may appear on the surface, trouble lurks beneath those translucent waters.
According to the Fairfax County Park Authority, which oversees the park, Lake Accotink is in danger of disappearing due to the sediment that has steadily accumulated over the past several decades.
“Sedimentation has been a constant problem for Lake Accotink,” said Gayle Hooper, a landscape architect in the Park Authority’s park planning division.
Hooper has been appointed project manager for the department’s ongoing Lake Accotink Park master plan revision, which launched with a public meeting on Mar. 14 at Cardinal Forest Elementary School in Springfield.
The park master plan was first developed in 1964 and undergoes revisions whenever the park or its surrounding community experiences significant changes. The plan was last updated in 1993.
The Park Authority designs its master plans to achieve a balance between the facilities its parks offer to serve the community and the conservation of natural and cultural resources.
Though there are other elements to the master plan, sedimentation is the biggest challenge facing Lake Accotink Park right now.
Hooper describes sedimentation as a natural process where, in the case of Lake Accotink, stormwater runoff picks up soil, rocks and other particles and carries them downstream until those particles eventually settle at the bottom of the lake.
The explosion in development throughout Fairfax County has resulted in more impervious surfaces, such as roads or concrete pavement, that increase the amount of runoff that enters the streams in the Accotink Creek watershed, which encompasses 51 square miles with 30 square miles that drain into Lake Accotink. The increased mass and speed of those streams leads to more erosion of the stream banks, adding to the amount of sediment in the water.
When the U.S. government first built the dam to create a lake in 1940, Lake Accotink was 23 feet deep. It is now a mere four feet deep.
The Park Authority previously addressed the issue of sedimentation by conducting dredging operations, where workers physically pulled up sediment from the bottom of the lake to restore its depth.
The first dredging operation occurred in 1984, and there was another one in 2004, but these operations are expensive, time-consuming and labor-intensive, requiring trucks to haul the recovered sediment to storage facilities and necessitating park shutdowns that could last up to two years.
Because they can only gather so much sediment, dredging operations must also be repeated approximately every 15 years.
To address this problem, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved project funding for the Lake Accotink Park master plan revision in 2014, and the county hired consulting firm Wetland Studies and Solutions (WSSI) to develop possible courses of action.
WSSI director of engineering Frank Graziano presented a list of technically feasible alternatives to county residents during a workshop meeting held Monday at Kings Glen Elementary School in Springfield.
In addition to undergoing another dredge operation that would restore the lake’s depth up to eight feet, the suggested options include creating a sediment forebay that would collect incoming sediment at the basin where streams enter Lake Accotink or constructing in-line “beaver dams” along the main river to reduce the amount of sediment that reaches the lake.
Both those options would also require dredging, but the forebay would extend the time between operations to 30 or 40 years.
WSSI also proposed demolishing the existing dam to eliminate Lake Accotink altogether and turn the park into more of a hiking or wildlife viewing destination with a river. The final suggestion was to modify the dam so that there would be a smaller lake with a single channel running alongside it.
Because the study is still in its early stages, WSSI and the Park Authority haven’t yet conducted any in-depth research of the costs or potential environmental impacts of the proposed projects.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is also scheduled to release new Total Daily Maximum Loads (TMDL), which set regulations for pollution as required by the Clean Water Act, at the end of the year.
Those new standards could affect the viability of alternatives for Lake Accotink, particularly those that involve altering the dam.
“I really couldn’t say what the best option is,” Park Authority project branch manager John Lehman said. “Some of the options would eliminate the lake. That would make it unacceptable to a lot of people, so there are pluses and minuses with each option.”
Lehman, who was previously also involved with the 2004 dredging operation, says that the Park Authority wanted to get community input on the master plan before the TMDLs came out because the process takes a long time.
The department’s main goal is to develop a plan that’s sustainable, meaning it takes environmental, social or community-oriented, and financial considerations all into account.
Many attendees at the workshop meeting shared stories about their experiences at Lake Accotink Park as they discussed the Park Authority’s presentation.
For example, David Kepley, a community council member of the nonprofit Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions, has lived in Fairfax County with his family for 35 years and regularly visits the Lake Accotink Park to hike, ride his bike and watch wildlife, including the bald eagles that have nested in the trees beside the lake.
He currently lives in near Long Branch Valley Stream Park and says there’s a restoration project taking place on a stream behind his house that eventually feeds into Lake Accotink. Watching that stream erode the dirt bank prompted him to attend the workshop meeting so that he could understand the big picture.
“I’m mostly concerned about the environmental standpoint,” Kepley said. “[However], it’s a lake in the middle of a community, so the people have to be considered, because it’s their tax dollars that are going to fund all of these projects anyway.”
All of the residents at the meeting expressed a strong desire to keep the lake, though many people noted that it’s difficult to make any decision without more details about possible impacts on park wildlife or project funding. Some also wondered whether some of the options could be combined.
Kings Park resident Bobby Bancroft has visited Lake Accotink Park since he was a kid and finds the park valuable because it lets him spend time in nature without having to drive or venture too far from home.
“You have to do things within reason,” Bancroft said. “I’d like to keep the lake, but if it doesn’t make sense for the sediment or cost-wise, then you have to figure out what makes the most sense.”
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/articles/fairfax_county/lake-accotink-in-danger-of-becoming-no-more/article_0c397da4-1ece-11e6-9ec1-431c56f74e00.html
However, as serene and idyllic as everything may appear on the surface, trouble lurks beneath those translucent waters.
According to the Fairfax County Park Authority, which oversees the park, Lake Accotink is in danger of disappearing due to the sediment that has steadily accumulated over the past several decades.
“Sedimentation has been a constant problem for Lake Accotink,” said Gayle Hooper, a landscape architect in the Park Authority’s park planning division.
Hooper has been appointed project manager for the department’s ongoing Lake Accotink Park master plan revision, which launched with a public meeting on Mar. 14 at Cardinal Forest Elementary School in Springfield.
The park master plan was first developed in 1964 and undergoes revisions whenever the park or its surrounding community experiences significant changes. The plan was last updated in 1993.
The Park Authority designs its master plans to achieve a balance between the facilities its parks offer to serve the community and the conservation of natural and cultural resources.
Though there are other elements to the master plan, sedimentation is the biggest challenge facing Lake Accotink Park right now.
Hooper describes sedimentation as a natural process where, in the case of Lake Accotink, stormwater runoff picks up soil, rocks and other particles and carries them downstream until those particles eventually settle at the bottom of the lake.
The explosion in development throughout Fairfax County has resulted in more impervious surfaces, such as roads or concrete pavement, that increase the amount of runoff that enters the streams in the Accotink Creek watershed, which encompasses 51 square miles with 30 square miles that drain into Lake Accotink. The increased mass and speed of those streams leads to more erosion of the stream banks, adding to the amount of sediment in the water.
When the U.S. government first built the dam to create a lake in 1940, Lake Accotink was 23 feet deep. It is now a mere four feet deep.
The Park Authority previously addressed the issue of sedimentation by conducting dredging operations, where workers physically pulled up sediment from the bottom of the lake to restore its depth.
The first dredging operation occurred in 1984, and there was another one in 2004, but these operations are expensive, time-consuming and labor-intensive, requiring trucks to haul the recovered sediment to storage facilities and necessitating park shutdowns that could last up to two years.
Because they can only gather so much sediment, dredging operations must also be repeated approximately every 15 years.
To address this problem, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved project funding for the Lake Accotink Park master plan revision in 2014, and the county hired consulting firm Wetland Studies and Solutions (WSSI) to develop possible courses of action.
WSSI director of engineering Frank Graziano presented a list of technically feasible alternatives to county residents during a workshop meeting held Monday at Kings Glen Elementary School in Springfield.
In addition to undergoing another dredge operation that would restore the lake’s depth up to eight feet, the suggested options include creating a sediment forebay that would collect incoming sediment at the basin where streams enter Lake Accotink or constructing in-line “beaver dams” along the main river to reduce the amount of sediment that reaches the lake.
Both those options would also require dredging, but the forebay would extend the time between operations to 30 or 40 years.
WSSI also proposed demolishing the existing dam to eliminate Lake Accotink altogether and turn the park into more of a hiking or wildlife viewing destination with a river. The final suggestion was to modify the dam so that there would be a smaller lake with a single channel running alongside it.
Because the study is still in its early stages, WSSI and the Park Authority haven’t yet conducted any in-depth research of the costs or potential environmental impacts of the proposed projects.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is also scheduled to release new Total Daily Maximum Loads (TMDL), which set regulations for pollution as required by the Clean Water Act, at the end of the year.
Those new standards could affect the viability of alternatives for Lake Accotink, particularly those that involve altering the dam.
“I really couldn’t say what the best option is,” Park Authority project branch manager John Lehman said. “Some of the options would eliminate the lake. That would make it unacceptable to a lot of people, so there are pluses and minuses with each option.”
Lehman, who was previously also involved with the 2004 dredging operation, says that the Park Authority wanted to get community input on the master plan before the TMDLs came out because the process takes a long time.
The department’s main goal is to develop a plan that’s sustainable, meaning it takes environmental, social or community-oriented, and financial considerations all into account.
Many attendees at the workshop meeting shared stories about their experiences at Lake Accotink Park as they discussed the Park Authority’s presentation.
For example, David Kepley, a community council member of the nonprofit Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions, has lived in Fairfax County with his family for 35 years and regularly visits the Lake Accotink Park to hike, ride his bike and watch wildlife, including the bald eagles that have nested in the trees beside the lake.
He currently lives in near Long Branch Valley Stream Park and says there’s a restoration project taking place on a stream behind his house that eventually feeds into Lake Accotink. Watching that stream erode the dirt bank prompted him to attend the workshop meeting so that he could understand the big picture.
“I’m mostly concerned about the environmental standpoint,” Kepley said. “[However], it’s a lake in the middle of a community, so the people have to be considered, because it’s their tax dollars that are going to fund all of these projects anyway.”
All of the residents at the meeting expressed a strong desire to keep the lake, though many people noted that it’s difficult to make any decision without more details about possible impacts on park wildlife or project funding. Some also wondered whether some of the options could be combined.
Kings Park resident Bobby Bancroft has visited Lake Accotink Park since he was a kid and finds the park valuable because it lets him spend time in nature without having to drive or venture too far from home.
“You have to do things within reason,” Bancroft said. “I’d like to keep the lake, but if it doesn’t make sense for the sediment or cost-wise, then you have to figure out what makes the most sense.”
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/articles/fairfax_county/lake-accotink-in-danger-of-becoming-no-more/article_0c397da4-1ece-11e6-9ec1-431c56f74e00.html
Re: Lake Accostink in danger of becoming no more
Posted by:
MpvTd
()
Date: June 18, 2016 10:50AM
More Mt. bike trails - Im okay with this
Re: Lake Accostink in danger of becoming no more
Posted by:
Mud Buggy
()
Date: June 18, 2016 12:14PM
FFX needs an offroad park.
It can never be developed so it's wasteland.
Guess how many millions the county spent to a New Jersey firm to pave a bike path and build 3 bridges to the park 3 years ago.
It can never be developed so it's wasteland.
Guess how many millions the county spent to a New Jersey firm to pave a bike path and build 3 bridges to the park 3 years ago.
Re: Lake Accostink in danger of becoming no more
Posted by:
Boondoggle
()
Date: June 18, 2016 12:21PM
Yeah, this trail was named the "Gerry Connelly Trail" after it opened.
Always a politician involved where there millions to be spent.
Lake Accotink Park: “The Tink” has been a popular riding site since mountain biking became popular in the mid-1990s. In those early days, access was difficult because there were no direct roads to the main trails above the lake. Access was mostly through bushwhacked trails along the banks of Accotink Creek that were infamous for their webs of slippery roots and muddy clay.
To get to dry trails above the lake, riders would have to grind their way up steep, tight switchbacks. That changed when MORE and the Fairfax Park Authority brought the CCT trail to the lake. The infamous “Nemesis” climb above the lake’s dam was tamed with a paved, but still steep, path. The CCT trail was widened and improved all around the lake and the treacherous concrete stairway entry point at Danbury Forest was changed to smooth, winding pavement.
On the south side, there was no access because the park was bisected by a busy railroad track. That changed when the local homeowners association on Carrleigh Parkway granted access through their property with some restrictions on night riding.
A bike-pedestrian bridge was built over the railroad tracks and the full park was now accessible from a parking lot below an older railroad bridge over the lake’s dam, a service road on Rolling Road and the CCT trail around the park.
The Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts trail advocacy group improved the rocky, rooty, erosion-prone trails at Accotink by using progressive trail-building techniques, reducing run-off into the lake and building rapport with the neighborhood. With the new trails underway, Accotink changed from being a “bandit” network into a great example of modern trail building in a busy suburban area. Most of the seven miles of trails are of moderate skill level, but rise above that rating when ridden at faster speeds. The wide, main dirt trail around the lake is always busy with mountain bikers, stroller-pushers and runners.
The Accotink trail system links with the CCT and the Wakefield park routes at Danbury Forest Drive. The entrance is down the paved hill. Bikes cannot enter the park at the upper paved trail, which is uphill only to prevent pedestrian-bike collisions. Please use the entrance down Danbury Forest Drive, which is marked with signs on the right. At the bottom of that entrance, turn right to connect over the Accotink Creek bridge to the CCT and the Wakefield trails.
The Bike Lane along with MORE hosts many weekly rides through Accotink Park (it's only 2 miles from The BIke Lane Springfield). You can find these rides on our monthly calendar of events.
Always a politician involved where there millions to be spent.
Lake Accotink Park: “The Tink” has been a popular riding site since mountain biking became popular in the mid-1990s. In those early days, access was difficult because there were no direct roads to the main trails above the lake. Access was mostly through bushwhacked trails along the banks of Accotink Creek that were infamous for their webs of slippery roots and muddy clay.
To get to dry trails above the lake, riders would have to grind their way up steep, tight switchbacks. That changed when MORE and the Fairfax Park Authority brought the CCT trail to the lake. The infamous “Nemesis” climb above the lake’s dam was tamed with a paved, but still steep, path. The CCT trail was widened and improved all around the lake and the treacherous concrete stairway entry point at Danbury Forest was changed to smooth, winding pavement.
On the south side, there was no access because the park was bisected by a busy railroad track. That changed when the local homeowners association on Carrleigh Parkway granted access through their property with some restrictions on night riding.
A bike-pedestrian bridge was built over the railroad tracks and the full park was now accessible from a parking lot below an older railroad bridge over the lake’s dam, a service road on Rolling Road and the CCT trail around the park.
The Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts trail advocacy group improved the rocky, rooty, erosion-prone trails at Accotink by using progressive trail-building techniques, reducing run-off into the lake and building rapport with the neighborhood. With the new trails underway, Accotink changed from being a “bandit” network into a great example of modern trail building in a busy suburban area. Most of the seven miles of trails are of moderate skill level, but rise above that rating when ridden at faster speeds. The wide, main dirt trail around the lake is always busy with mountain bikers, stroller-pushers and runners.
The Accotink trail system links with the CCT and the Wakefield park routes at Danbury Forest Drive. The entrance is down the paved hill. Bikes cannot enter the park at the upper paved trail, which is uphill only to prevent pedestrian-bike collisions. Please use the entrance down Danbury Forest Drive, which is marked with signs on the right. At the bottom of that entrance, turn right to connect over the Accotink Creek bridge to the CCT and the Wakefield trails.
The Bike Lane along with MORE hosts many weekly rides through Accotink Park (it's only 2 miles from The BIke Lane Springfield). You can find these rides on our monthly calendar of events.
Re: Lake Accostink in danger of becoming no more
Posted by:
local...
()
Date: June 18, 2016 10:07PM
Boondoggle Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yeah, this trail was named the "Gerry Connelly
> Trail" after it opened.
>
> Always a politician involved where there millions
> to be spent.
>
> Lake Accotink Park: “The Tink” has been a go
> popular riding site since mountain biking became
> popular in the mid-1990s. In those early days,
> access was difficult because there were no direct
> roads to the main trails above the lake. Access
> was mostly through bushwhacked trails along the
> banks of Accotink Creek that were infamous for
> their webs of slippery roots and muddy clay.
>
> To get to dry trails above the lake, riders would
> have to grind their way up steep, tight
> switchbacks. That changed when MORE and the
> Fairfax Park Authority brought the CCT trail to
> the lake. The infamous “Nemesis” climb above
> the lake’s dam was tamed with a paved, but still
> steep, path. The CCT trail was widened and
> improved all around the lake and the treacherous
> concrete stairway entry point at Danbury Forest
> was changed to smooth, winding pavement.
>
> On the south side, there was no access because the
> park was bisected by a busy railroad track. That
> changed when the local homeowners association on
> Carrleigh Parkway granted access through their
> property with some restrictions on night riding.
>
> A bike-pedestrian bridge was built over the
> railroad tracks and the full park was now
> accessible from a parking lot below an older
> railroad bridge over the lake’s dam, a service
> road on Rolling Road and the CCT trail around the
> park.
>
> The Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts trail
> advocacy group improved the rocky, rooty,
> erosion-prone trails at Accotink by using
> progressive trail-building techniques, reducing
> run-off into the lake and building rapport with
> the neighborhood. With the new trails underway,
> Accotink changed from being a “bandit” network
> into a great example of modern trail building in a
> busy suburban area. Most of the seven miles of
> trails are of moderate skill level, but rise above
> that rating when ridden at faster speeds. The
> wide, main dirt trail around the lake is always
> busy with mountain bikers, stroller-pushers and
> runners.
>
> The Accotink trail system links with the CCT and
> the Wakefield park routes at Danbury Forest Drive.
> The entrance is down the paved hill. Bikes cannot
> enter the park at the upper paved trail, which is
> uphill only to prevent pedestrian-bike collisions.
> Please use the entrance down Danbury Forest
> Drive, which is marked with signs on the right.
> At the bottom of that entrance, turn right to
> connect over the Accotink Creek bridge to the CCT
> and the Wakefield trails.
>
> The Bike Lane along with MORE hosts many weekly
> rides through Accotink Park (it's only 2 miles
> from The BIke Lane Springfield). You can find
> these rides on our monthly calendar of events.
Sorry sensei, but we rode on kid made BMX tracks in the woods there in the late seventies, and on early "mountain"bikes on the early eighties, before the mid nineties. There were great trails then for riding, we kids made them and rode hard, crashed hard, didn't need a safe manufactured trail to ride $1000.00 + bikes on. I rode a JC Pennys ten speed with a modified fork and fat tires. Jumped the shit out of that thing. Never ever wore tights and a helmet. Cutoff jeans, sneakers, tee shirt and a doobie.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yeah, this trail was named the "Gerry Connelly
> Trail" after it opened.
>
> Always a politician involved where there millions
> to be spent.
>
> Lake Accotink Park: “The Tink” has been a go
> popular riding site since mountain biking became
> popular in the mid-1990s. In those early days,
> access was difficult because there were no direct
> roads to the main trails above the lake. Access
> was mostly through bushwhacked trails along the
> banks of Accotink Creek that were infamous for
> their webs of slippery roots and muddy clay.
>
> To get to dry trails above the lake, riders would
> have to grind their way up steep, tight
> switchbacks. That changed when MORE and the
> Fairfax Park Authority brought the CCT trail to
> the lake. The infamous “Nemesis” climb above
> the lake’s dam was tamed with a paved, but still
> steep, path. The CCT trail was widened and
> improved all around the lake and the treacherous
> concrete stairway entry point at Danbury Forest
> was changed to smooth, winding pavement.
>
> On the south side, there was no access because the
> park was bisected by a busy railroad track. That
> changed when the local homeowners association on
> Carrleigh Parkway granted access through their
> property with some restrictions on night riding.
>
> A bike-pedestrian bridge was built over the
> railroad tracks and the full park was now
> accessible from a parking lot below an older
> railroad bridge over the lake’s dam, a service
> road on Rolling Road and the CCT trail around the
> park.
>
> The Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts trail
> advocacy group improved the rocky, rooty,
> erosion-prone trails at Accotink by using
> progressive trail-building techniques, reducing
> run-off into the lake and building rapport with
> the neighborhood. With the new trails underway,
> Accotink changed from being a “bandit” network
> into a great example of modern trail building in a
> busy suburban area. Most of the seven miles of
> trails are of moderate skill level, but rise above
> that rating when ridden at faster speeds. The
> wide, main dirt trail around the lake is always
> busy with mountain bikers, stroller-pushers and
> runners.
>
> The Accotink trail system links with the CCT and
> the Wakefield park routes at Danbury Forest Drive.
> The entrance is down the paved hill. Bikes cannot
> enter the park at the upper paved trail, which is
> uphill only to prevent pedestrian-bike collisions.
> Please use the entrance down Danbury Forest
> Drive, which is marked with signs on the right.
> At the bottom of that entrance, turn right to
> connect over the Accotink Creek bridge to the CCT
> and the Wakefield trails.
>
> The Bike Lane along with MORE hosts many weekly
> rides through Accotink Park (it's only 2 miles
> from The BIke Lane Springfield). You can find
> these rides on our monthly calendar of events.
Sorry sensei, but we rode on kid made BMX tracks in the woods there in the late seventies, and on early "mountain"bikes on the early eighties, before the mid nineties. There were great trails then for riding, we kids made them and rode hard, crashed hard, didn't need a safe manufactured trail to ride $1000.00 + bikes on. I rode a JC Pennys ten speed with a modified fork and fat tires. Jumped the shit out of that thing. Never ever wore tights and a helmet. Cutoff jeans, sneakers, tee shirt and a doobie.
Re: Lake Accostink in danger of becoming no more
Posted by:
Timber Wolf
()
Date: June 19, 2016 12:45PM
Some kids built a large cabin between the railroad tracks and the main access road in the late seventies.
Re: Lake Accostink in danger of becoming no more
Posted by:
cannot beat trail riding
()
Date: June 19, 2016 01:42PM
local... Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Boondoggle Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Yeah, this trail was named the "Gerry Connelly
> > Trail" after it opened.
> >
> > Always a politician involved where there
> millions
> > to be spent.
> >
> > Lake Accotink Park: “The Tink” has been a
> go
> > popular riding site since mountain biking
> became
> > popular in the mid-1990s. In those early days,
> > access was difficult because there were no
> direct
> > roads to the main trails above the lake. Access
> > was mostly through bushwhacked trails along the
> > banks of Accotink Creek that were infamous for
> > their webs of slippery roots and muddy clay.
> >
> > To get to dry trails above the lake, riders
> would
> > have to grind their way up steep, tight
> > switchbacks. That changed when MORE and the
> > Fairfax Park Authority brought the CCT trail
> to
> > the lake. The infamous “Nemesis” climb
> above
> > the lake’s dam was tamed with a paved, but
> still
> > steep, path. The CCT trail was widened and
> > improved all around the lake and the
> treacherous
> > concrete stairway entry point at Danbury Forest
> > was changed to smooth, winding pavement.
> >
> > On the south side, there was no access because
> the
> > park was bisected by a busy railroad track.
> That
> > changed when the local homeowners association
> on
> > Carrleigh Parkway granted access through their
> > property with some restrictions on night
> riding.
> >
> > A bike-pedestrian bridge was built over the
> > railroad tracks and the full park was now
> > accessible from a parking lot below an older
> > railroad bridge over the lake’s dam, a
> service
> > road on Rolling Road and the CCT trail around
> the
> > park.
> >
> > The Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts trail
> > advocacy group improved the rocky, rooty,
> > erosion-prone trails at Accotink by using
> > progressive trail-building techniques, reducing
> > run-off into the lake and building rapport with
> > the neighborhood. With the new trails
> underway,
> > Accotink changed from being a “bandit”
> network
> > into a great example of modern trail building in
> a
> > busy suburban area. Most of the seven miles of
> > trails are of moderate skill level, but rise
> above
> > that rating when ridden at faster speeds. The
> > wide, main dirt trail around the lake is always
> > busy with mountain bikers, stroller-pushers and
> > runners.
> >
> > The Accotink trail system links with the CCT
> and
> > the Wakefield park routes at Danbury Forest
> Drive.
> > The entrance is down the paved hill. Bikes
> cannot
> > enter the park at the upper paved trail, which
> is
> > uphill only to prevent pedestrian-bike
> collisions.
> > Please use the entrance down Danbury Forest
> > Drive, which is marked with signs on the right.
>
> > At the bottom of that entrance, turn right to
> > connect over the Accotink Creek bridge to the
> CCT
> > and the Wakefield trails.
> >
> > The Bike Lane along with MORE hosts many weekly
> > rides through Accotink Park (it's only 2 miles
> > from The BIke Lane Springfield). You can find
> > these rides on our monthly calendar of events.
>
>
> Sorry sensei, but we rode on kid made BMX tracks
> in the woods there in the late seventies, and on
> early "mountain"bikes on the early eighties,
> before the mid nineties. There were great trails
> then for riding, we kids made them and rode hard,
> crashed hard, didn't need a safe manufactured
> trail to ride $1000.00 + bikes on. I rode a JC
> Pennys ten speed with a modified fork and fat
> tires. Jumped the shit out of that thing. Never
> ever wore tights and a helmet. Cutoff jeans,
> sneakers, tee shirt and a doobie.
We used to cut up my sisters bikes and turn them into bmx - small frames and low top tube made them ideal. Used to bend the pedals on jumps though. I now ride in modern bike clothing and with a 3000 dollar bike and its still amazing fun. Ride whatever you want in whatever to wear - cannot beat trail riding.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Boondoggle Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Yeah, this trail was named the "Gerry Connelly
> > Trail" after it opened.
> >
> > Always a politician involved where there
> millions
> > to be spent.
> >
> > Lake Accotink Park: “The Tink” has been a
> go
> > popular riding site since mountain biking
> became
> > popular in the mid-1990s. In those early days,
> > access was difficult because there were no
> direct
> > roads to the main trails above the lake. Access
> > was mostly through bushwhacked trails along the
> > banks of Accotink Creek that were infamous for
> > their webs of slippery roots and muddy clay.
> >
> > To get to dry trails above the lake, riders
> would
> > have to grind their way up steep, tight
> > switchbacks. That changed when MORE and the
> > Fairfax Park Authority brought the CCT trail
> to
> > the lake. The infamous “Nemesis” climb
> above
> > the lake’s dam was tamed with a paved, but
> still
> > steep, path. The CCT trail was widened and
> > improved all around the lake and the
> treacherous
> > concrete stairway entry point at Danbury Forest
> > was changed to smooth, winding pavement.
> >
> > On the south side, there was no access because
> the
> > park was bisected by a busy railroad track.
> That
> > changed when the local homeowners association
> on
> > Carrleigh Parkway granted access through their
> > property with some restrictions on night
> riding.
> >
> > A bike-pedestrian bridge was built over the
> > railroad tracks and the full park was now
> > accessible from a parking lot below an older
> > railroad bridge over the lake’s dam, a
> service
> > road on Rolling Road and the CCT trail around
> the
> > park.
> >
> > The Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts trail
> > advocacy group improved the rocky, rooty,
> > erosion-prone trails at Accotink by using
> > progressive trail-building techniques, reducing
> > run-off into the lake and building rapport with
> > the neighborhood. With the new trails
> underway,
> > Accotink changed from being a “bandit”
> network
> > into a great example of modern trail building in
> a
> > busy suburban area. Most of the seven miles of
> > trails are of moderate skill level, but rise
> above
> > that rating when ridden at faster speeds. The
> > wide, main dirt trail around the lake is always
> > busy with mountain bikers, stroller-pushers and
> > runners.
> >
> > The Accotink trail system links with the CCT
> and
> > the Wakefield park routes at Danbury Forest
> Drive.
> > The entrance is down the paved hill. Bikes
> cannot
> > enter the park at the upper paved trail, which
> is
> > uphill only to prevent pedestrian-bike
> collisions.
> > Please use the entrance down Danbury Forest
> > Drive, which is marked with signs on the right.
>
> > At the bottom of that entrance, turn right to
> > connect over the Accotink Creek bridge to the
> CCT
> > and the Wakefield trails.
> >
> > The Bike Lane along with MORE hosts many weekly
> > rides through Accotink Park (it's only 2 miles
> > from The BIke Lane Springfield). You can find
> > these rides on our monthly calendar of events.
>
>
> Sorry sensei, but we rode on kid made BMX tracks
> in the woods there in the late seventies, and on
> early "mountain"bikes on the early eighties,
> before the mid nineties. There were great trails
> then for riding, we kids made them and rode hard,
> crashed hard, didn't need a safe manufactured
> trail to ride $1000.00 + bikes on. I rode a JC
> Pennys ten speed with a modified fork and fat
> tires. Jumped the shit out of that thing. Never
> ever wore tights and a helmet. Cutoff jeans,
> sneakers, tee shirt and a doobie.
We used to cut up my sisters bikes and turn them into bmx - small frames and low top tube made them ideal. Used to bend the pedals on jumps though. I now ride in modern bike clothing and with a 3000 dollar bike and its still amazing fun. Ride whatever you want in whatever to wear - cannot beat trail riding.
Re: Lake Accostink in danger of becoming no more
Posted by:
DownTheDrain
()
Date: June 19, 2016 02:22PM
I posted about this over a month ago: http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/2/2200770/2219746.html#msg-2219746
Re: Lake Accostink in danger of becoming no more
Posted by:
Gracias Locusts
()
Date: June 19, 2016 03:11PM
Illegals made it happen. Infested with them .
Re: Lake Accostink in danger of becoming no more
Posted by:
Anthony27
()
Date: June 19, 2016 04:56PM
Hopefully they will drain lake Occoquan too, lots of room there for bike trails, etc.