On an unseasonably warm December afternoon, my girls and I headed to Sweet Run State Park for the first time. The 42nd and newest park in the system, Sweet Run was just dedicated by the governor a couple of months ago. It is located in Loudoun County’s Hillsboro, Virginia, about 45 minutes from our Fairfax County home. The park is still under development, but there are 11 miles of trails open to the public, along with a picnic shelter, a nature play area, and a pond where fishing is permitted.
Since we arrived at a time when our remaining daylight hours were limited, we decided to begin with a short hike. We parked near the play area and headed past the Little Free Nature Library and the chimney swift nesting site to pick up the nearest trail.
A number of trails can be accessed from this trailhead, but we chose to walk a few short paces to the Mountain View Trail.
The Mountain View Trail is an easy, 0.5-mile loop through a meadow with lovely views of the surrounding mountains. There is some minor elevation gain, but the grade is very gentle.
In spite of the season, the trail still boasted unique and varied vegetation to admire along the way.
After completing the loop, we retraced our steps through the tree-lined path.
We passed a historic springhouse on our way to the Nature Play Area.
We have visited many state parks with playgrounds, but Sweet Run went for an entirely different approach. Visitors can engage with repurposed equipment like mud kitchens, yard tools, and outdoor toys. There are spaces for digging, building, balancing, and more, and my kids LOVED it. I hope to return one day for the park’s Pop-in Playtime program, a free event on the fourth Wednesdays of the month where volunteers lead a guided activity or craft while still leaving plenty of time for unstructured play.
For those of you keeping track, Sweet Run was our 20th state park (two of my park blog posts are still in draft form, but I’ll be publishing them soon)! We are very excited to be receiving our milestone Trail Quest pin in the mail in the near future. I am also truly grateful that Virginia’s newest state park now also happens to be the closest state park to our house. I envision many more visits to Sweet Run State Park in our future!
Old Dominion for Young Virginians 