Mr F G And Mrs M S.

Lots of hiking trails here and great scenic drive. Very friendly staff here. Definitely worth visiting.

Sylvie C.

We stopped by after missing a left turn and feel lucky that we did. What a nicely maintained National Park Forest with ample parking, picnic tables with shades, playgrounds, and nice visitor center! The dogs and I could have easily spent all day in there to trail walk. There were many clearly parked trail entrances that we'd love to come back and explore. I really appreciated the thoughtfully placed accessibility parking spaces and mixed pavements for those with mobility differences. The bathroom building also had excellent slope that was no more than 20 degrees angle. Too often the slopes are at steep angle with convoluted zigzag making it difficult for everyone in need of using it. Not here! All in all, I am so happy for this accidental find and look forward to returning again in the future.

Austin G.

40 minutes south of Washington, D.C. is a large national park with a conflicted history. When the national park was created in the 1930s, farmers and residents of Batestown, a small community first settled by those formerly enslaved, were resettled by the government. The park does acknowledge its dark history. Today, Prince William Forest Park is a massive national park that cost $20 per vehicle to visit. Start at the visitors center to get the history of the park and maps. (There's also a little store that sells snacks inside.) Then park in one of the many parking lots that take you to old ruins, a handful of trails and a scenic drive.

John B.

[Coronavirus review] While open, this park had one of the most obnoxious partial closures I've seen. The entrance roads were blocked to cars, leaving us lined up on the side of the road and walking in. Given this is a big park that didn't have a ton of parking anyway, I struggle to see what was gained in this, and it's not like making us walk on a road to get to the park is safe. Also, they ticketed someone in that makeshift parking; I think for being too close to a stop sign. Signage says the park is in part the site of a reclaimed mine. Some streams flow through it, but there's nothing wildly spectacular on view. The trails had some boards in places but were so waterlogged following our April showers they really needed them in a lot of places. I saw a few bits of wildlife during the three or so hours I spent doing a fairly wide loop, including a relatively harmless but rather sizable black rat snake. Signs warned of bears being sighted in the park, which would surprise me. I walked out tick-free but smelling strongly of lemon eucalyptus. (Quick sidebar; whenever I see someone describe a park as "tick-infested", it's true but also comes off as being ignorant. Virtually any forested area in the U.S. has ticks, as does much of the rest of the world. They're unpleasant. They transmit nasty diseases. Wear repellent. Check yourself. Regardless of where you are.) Given the range of more exciting mountains to the west and water to the east, this park is not that exciting by comparison. However, if you just want somewhere with fresh air and trees and are in suburban Virginia, this is the biggest area available.

Laura W.

I recently visited Prince William Forest Park for the first time for a solo early weekend hike. At this time, it is $20 for a pass that lasts a week if you're driving in. I had read online some of the different trail routes and had one in mind. Signage is not a strength of the park, so I ended up doing a different route than planned but still really enjoyed it. There are many spots that double as swimming holes. They have a geology trail and some of the trails go along old mining areas. Camping is popular at this park too, but generally, it's not overly crowded. I hiked on a Saturday morning/early afternoon and ran into only a handful of people. I'll definitely be back to check out other areas of this beautiful resource.

Christopher M.

Beautiful Forest. Miles of trails and a few hidden gems. If you're going into the water further back in the woods, it's important to remember that Covid has decreased the attendance for a time. Certain areas on the water haven't had as much traffic as they previously did so snakes are more likely to be sunning themselves on the rocks now. I almost stepped on one two days ago .. 5/24. There is also a great scenic, concrete bike path that loops the park. Take a bike and enjoy a casual ride. Pack a picnic, there are no food stops.

Nancy P.

This is definitely our favorite place to visit when we are in town. So many wonderful trails and places to go to. Plenty of stuff to do for everyone. Definitely recommend this park to everyone who loves some beautiful scenery to hike or just to relax period

Prairie S.

This park is a haven for tree lovers. The rough trails cut through expanses of deciduous forests and it's possible to go quite a few miles without being overrun by northern Virginia's hordes. The farther out you park (along the scenic drive) from the central visitor's center, the fewer the other people you will encounter. The best trails, we feel, are alongside quiet Quantico Creek; they climb up and fall back down some interesting minor elevation. There are deer and plenty of birds to be spotted along the way. Once while hiking, we encountered dozens of racers taking part in an organized race. The history of this Park back to the days of the Civilian Conservation Corps is everywhere evident, from the hewn log bridges to the names of fire roads like "MaWaVi Trail" which is the hip 1930s way of combining Maryland-Washington-Virginia (today we've coined the term "the DMV" for it). The park's developed campsites such as Oak Ridge campground are well-organized and allow nature enthusiasts with fairly minimal camping gear to get away in tents, communing with the wind in the trees, without too much effort. They have flushing toilets and the map indicates camp spots that offer a bit of seclusion--a very helpful feature. There are also some permitted backcountry sites set in the woods to go in with your backpacking gear...and that is pretty impressive within an hour of DC. I appreciate that its within 1/2 hour drive of Alexandria but is sufficiently forested to feel like there is a real nature preserve within easy access.

Jon L.

This was my second time out to this oasis of fresh air in the DC Metro. If you want another National Park like this; you must drive to the Shenandoah. There are those that believe $7 is too much to pay for this park. I've heard some say...'I pay taxes, why should I pay again' If you don't think it's worth it...stay home. That way you don't overcrowd and you can use that $7 to put a couple gallons of gas in your tank. I really like that you can drive up to the oneway road and park your car and just walk on the paved road when the trails are too wet. There are several trails throughout the park of various lengths. None that are what i would consider 'primitive. There is a nice 3.8 mile trail you pick up from lot E that will take you by the cascade waterfall. There are plenty of areas for picnic tables. Great two way biking on paved road. There is gravel road for those that want to mountain bike. Very easy access off I-95 or Route 619/Joplin Rd. I really like the criss crossing of the Quantico Creek and the bridges for viewing the water. A great place for families and adults of all ages. People are so much nicer when they are not stressed by competing for space. A great place for attitude adjustment. This should be everyones 'happy hour.'

Jennifer C.

I liked it! Appreciated the easy hike but I wish the signs were more clear! We were lost like 3 times so we had to hike longer which was ok but just a heads up for future visitors! Make sure download offline maps on your phone(google map does it) because the map seemed not clear to us...lol We were fine though:)

Chris C.

First time visiting this park. Didn't have a lot of expectations as from all I've heard it's not particularly scenic. We drove the scenic loop which doesn't have any view points or overlooks, just trees lining the road, pretty enough when backlit by sunlight. Tried a couple of trails - the Oak Ridge trail is narrow and doesn't seem to have been maintained for some time so extremely wild looking, overgrown and quite muddy in parts. When I checked on the park website it seemed to be a loop but looking at the map at the trailhead (from the Oak Ridge Campground) couldn't quite figure out how it would work, especially when trail markings were not very clear either. It was also extremely buggy. On the way out we stopped at the High Meadows trailhead and walked a bit on that trail which was a lot better than Oak Ridge in that it's much wider, better maintained and less buggy - especially the one on the side of the parking area (which also had some elevation variation). The one thing that made our day, however, was the sighting of an albino squirrel right at the oak ridge trailhead. That was really cool. Definitely not something you'd see everyday or at any other parks.