This review is for the splash pad and playground. The incredibly awesome and very, very free splash…read morepad and playground. This new splash pad and playground serves as a reminder that damn Loudon County has some money. We got here at noon with our toddler and only planned to spend a couple of hours and ended up basically being here until they closed in the middle of summer at 8 PM. I think it's an amazing design to have three playground design for different ages right near the splash pad. Luckily it was like 5000° out so kids dried off the minute they left the waterpark to go to playgrounds. So being a wet mess really wasn't a concern. There are a few rules to the waterpark that includes no toys and no dogs and the standard diaper requirements for the incontinent , but otherwise it's pretty open and people were really really well behaved. The bathrooms are amazingly clean for a public bathrooms and offer wide enough stalls to change in. It's highly recommended because of temperatures and the fact that most of the place is concrete to wear water shoes. The only issue we had was that a baby kept putting wet banana peels like this was Mario kart in the splash pad and people kept tripping on them. Most of the water features are well functioning and a lot of fun. The playground themselves range from ages 5 to 12, and have a lot of hills with Astroturf, which is kind of fun to just roll down and they have slides built into them. There are a lot of climbing activities. The slides do get hot on a sunny day, but since the kids are already wet from the waterpark, they seem fine. And the park is very clean. We went on a weekday and it wasn't really that crowded, but I can see how weekends could be pretty full. They also have lots of tables for our families to sit down and enjoy some picnic items.

My kids love it. It's clean and lots of parking space and well maintained. It's worth visiting.read more

To my surprise, this trail was found by accident as I had finished an errand in Herndon and needed…read morea place to kill time and explore. This trail/park allows you to see the beautiful nature Northern VA offers with the trees, streams, trails, and surroundings of buildings and landscapes. It's a long trail and it intersects with the WO&D trail. Plenty of space and mileage to explore and perfect for biking/walking/jogging. Get those steps in!

I love walking this easy trail with my dog and am so fortunate to have it located so close from…read morehome. There is plenty of shade and is great for bikers, runners, dog walkers and if you are looking for a simple trail to take your family to! There is also a really neat wall of painted rocks that the community has been contributing to which is awesome because we all get to add to one big piece of art! On a few of my walks here, I've seen deer, raccoons, and foxes so there is a pretty good chance you may spot some wildlife too.

Tucked in the Landsdowne area next to the Lansdowne golf course, the scenes and views of the river…read moreare spectacular, especially when that sun is shining. Trails go both ways along the river and aside from the golf course. Due to the tall grass and bushes, recommend wearing long pants and shoes that you don't mind getting dirt/mud on. The park is secluded so you'll get some peace of mind here. I think that's why we visit parks right?

I found this lovely public park on a list of the best Northern VA hiking trails for toddlers. And…read moreit was right - the main trails, which snakes along the Potomac, was very easy for my little girl to walk (or skip). Not to mention it's beautiful, even on the foggy morning we paid the park a visit. Just past a clearing, you can climb down to the river and, that morning, the sight of water and sky blending into each other and the entire landscape covered in fog was something out of a storybook (or the set of a horror movie, I guess, depending on how you look at things). After a little exploring and a (very) light hike, we came back to the clearing for a little snack. There are a couple of picnic tables but you'd be just as fine laying out a blanket. The list I mentioned earlier called the park a "best-kept secret" of the area. Being tucked away behind the Lansdowne golf course and a residential neighborhood, I'd say that's true. "Secluded" is another word that seems to be used often to describe the park. Also true and a welcome quality in pandemic times. But while it may not be one of the most well-known parks in the area, it still enjoys quite a few visitors and the parking lot looks like it can fit no more than 20 cars at a time. Luckily, everyone we encountered - even on the trail - was masked...and very friendly! We enjoyed this park very much. With a young toddler, the hiking enthusiasts that we are a little limited in where we can go. Happy to add this Riverfront gem to our "will return" list.

Begrudgingly, I am rating Lake Fairfax with 4 stars. Let me preface by saying I am not an…read more"outdoor-sy" type of gal. Spas and sparkling rosé...more my speed, but I am always up for different experiences. Having said that...I've experienced it, and umm...with mosquito bites still itching, this was cool...not sure if I would say, "yes" again. While he set up the tents, I went to grab a margarita. Upon my return, I was impressed with the setup. Who knew camping could be "chic"? lol. After sending my daughter pics, she said it was, "glamping," not "camping." Lol Honestly, I enjoyed. Just hated the bugs. I love to read. If you do too, bring a good book. The camping ground is spacious. You're assigned a lot where you set up your tent(s). Seems like he had the entire gamut -- blow up couch, blow up bed, portable grill, speakers for music, bug repellent, food, and libations ;-) You will hear everything that is nature at night. I swear I heard a fox howling/barking. All-in-all, it was a cool experience...five days later, still itching from those bites. Oh! There's a water park too...arrive early to get in because they do have a capacity limit.

Wayyyyy back in the day, my dad bought a RV, and the one place that I can explicitly remember us…read moregoing, was Lake Fairfax Park. I also remember having a great time on the lake paddle boating and swimming in the big "L" shaped pool. Fast forward decades later, I have taken a liking to camping. I still consider myself a novice, and over the last 3yrs, I have accumulated some cool stuff. I have an annual camping trip with a large group next month, but I wanted to do a small intimate trip to one of my favorite childhood places. I must say, Lake Fairfax has one big change from when I was a child. It now has a HUGE waterpark that has giganic water slides as soon as you enter. I was a little disappointed to hear from the check-in Park attendant, who had the personality of a disinterested teenager, that the L shaped pool I referenced was no longer there. My picture of laying poolside or chillin in the pool were shattered, because with waterparks, comes tons and tons of young kids.. and honestly, I would just rather not..LOL! Once we made it to our assigned camping lot, I was super pleased at how close we were to the extremely clean rest rooms that were equipped with showers. The camping site was noticeably quiet, almost library quiet, so that suprised me a little. I didn't want to disrupt the flow, so I kept my speaker at a low level. :) All in all, I had a memorable experience at Lake Fairfax Park and I can definitely see myself coming back sometime next Spring/Summer!!

I went on Sunday with a friend to visit the sunflower fields. First off, it took what felt like…read moreages to locate the sunflowers. Yes there are coordinates on the website, but they wouldn't register when I tried copying & pasting them into Google maps. There is one gravel parking lot visible from the road. We started there, but then walked ahead and saw... nothing. No clear path to any sunflowers. We then drove a bit more and still not much. I then entered an address for "sunflower parking lot" which took us down the road, off of River road, past another gravel parking lot to another gravel parking lot. We parked there and decided to wander in to see what we could see. No signage, and still no sunflowers. We kept walking anyway until we finally spotted a field of yellow off in the distance on our left. We walked through a field to the flowers! It was a bit anticlimactic because our path landed us at the backside of the flowers, so we had to basically walk around or walk backwards to get a good view. We did a couple of laps while there. There were surprisingly few people at 4:30pm on a Sunday. We got some photos and then left. On our way out, we passed by many people asking if they were going the right way to the flowers. We also spoke to a group who came from the other lot. They said they were wandering for 3 hours trying to find the flowers and eventually managed to find the lot, and then had to cross a river with sticks for balance to get to the field. My jaw dropped. For a site that boasts beautiful flowers for visitors to enjoy, how the hell have they not marked it better? I also tried calling the wildlife center's office only to be met with a message that they no longer have in person office hours. Aka we were completely on our own trying to find our way. It also came to our attention that only field 3 had any flowers to see at this time. Yes the website says that the fields bloom at different times but nowhere did it provide a real time update. The fields are a mile or so apart, sending visitors on a wild goose chase. Absolutely ridiculous. I want to say I'd return next year, but only if they provide clearer directions on the website so we don't waste time driving all over the place and walking to a flower field that doesn't even exist at the moment.

Got a chance to visit last weekend. It was nice to be able to check their website and see a rough…read moreweekly estimate of sunflower bloom status. When using Googlemaps initially we ended up at parking for Field #2 which wasn't ready yet. We tried to walk around to see if the fields connected but there didn't seem to be an easy way to get to the other fields. Luckily we examined the posted map more closely by the parking lot and decided to follow River Road and eventually found Sycamore Landing Road which led to Field #4. Again there was an initial parking lot we stopped at since it was our first time visiting but it seemed like that was mostly for hiking. Once continuing further in we got to another lot closer to Field #4. The main lot was already full by around 11 am on a Saturday but we were able to park by the side of the road. There were plenty of sunflowers of varying heights and sizes to take interesting pictures with. It was also cool to see quite a few artists camped out that were painting the beautiful landscape. A friendly couple offered to take a picture of my partner and me. We were even able to chat about birds like how indigo buntings have been spotted nearby. Personally I saw a cardinal but didn't see any indigo buntings. There are some nice close up shots of indigo buntings and other birds on Google maps geotagged at McKee-Besher that someone else posted that are pretty impressive. Overall it was a bit stressful finding the correct blooming field but future visits will be less intimidating. Would be neat to come again and see what the other fields look like at peak bloom.

Tucked back away from the backgrounds with a large variety of play equipment it's very quaint…read moresurrounded by trees with lots of benches for caregivers to sit on and watch the kids.

Playground is down a short trail in the woods. Connects to W&OD trail. Multiple ball fields for big…read morekid sports.

As someone who grew up in Ashburn, I am very familiar with the Broadlands nature reserve. I love…read morehow for years, despite the town and county's plans to tear up the fields, trees, and wildlife for more and more data centers and townhouses for a never-ending, growing population, one thing has been constant and that's this small park. I've come here for years and despite possibly making a fool of myself with this statement, I must say this park is one of my top spots to visit even as a man in his thirties. There's a feeling of peace when walking the perimeter of the pond and being able to listen to the bugs, ducks, and toads over the now usual sound of passing vehicles, their horns as well as builder/landscaper equipment. There is parking on the side of the street and trash can facilities for those who know how to dispose of their waste correctly. They added doggie bags for dog walkers and i always notice on my visits the many walkers and joggers that want to excercise while also taking in the beauty of this nature preserve. I can only pray the Ashburn community can continue to prevent the property developers (responsible for the thousands of townhouses and data centers) from destroying this park for another complex.

This place is absolutely beautiful. Huge with so many stunning areas from a greenhouse with glass…read morewalls and greenery to pagodas! I didn't know it's also a popular event venue! We saw a few weddings here last weekend. Plenty trails and photo ops! Looks like a lot of people come here for maternity shoots and engagement shoots- the photographers have a special entrance ticket and rules to abide by. Not free entry but very well maintained and a beautiful experience for families or couples.

Meadowlark is the best spot to view cherry blossoms in the DMV, hands down. Visit on a weekday…read moreduring peak bloom if you can, but even on a busy day you can get better views of the blossoms than at the Tidal Basin. Don't sleep on this hidden gem during cherry blossom season! The rest of the botanical garden is well worth a visit, with a greenhouse, polished garden favorites, and wild woodland scenery. There are also children's gardens and a small playground, as well as many benches with different views to enjoy. One of my favorite spots is the fairy garden right outside the entrance, with all kinds of small-scale flowers. Admittedly, I've only been to Meadowlark during two seasons and have yet to witness fall and winter. I'm eager to go for the holiday lights, which I've heard great things about.