Transforming a regional county park.

In early May of 2016 Ryan Delany, then Prince William County Parks and Recreation Trail Manager, reached out to Martín Fernández, of the Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts, about the possibility of leading an effort to revitalize the existing legacy trail system at Locust Shade Park in Triangle, Virginia. Martín took the project by the reigns, and over the course of the next 5 years, with help from other volunteers, Prince William County staff and professional trail builder Brock Lowery, set out to transform Locust Shade’s trail system into a regional mountain Biking destination.

Background

In April of 2016 Martín Fernández, Ryan Delaney and Howard Olsen worked together to submit a proposal (pdf) to Prince William Forest Park (PWFP) to address sustainability issues with the Oak Ridge Trail. While that proposal was unsuccessful, it planted the seed for a collaborative effort between the Mid Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts (MORE) and the Prince William County Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism (PWCPARKS) to begin discussions on Locust Shade Park and the potential to realign, revitalize and close sections of unsustainable and underused trail.

As a result, Ryan Delaney drafted the first concept map for the potential expansion and trail revitalization at Locust Shade in May of 2016. Later that year in June/July, planning for the transformation of the Locust Shade trails system began with direct support from PWCPARKS and the National Park Service’s Potomac Heritage Trail office. Trail re-alignment and construction began in earnest in late 2019 with the construction of the Lower Advanced Mountain Biking trail, The Col Du Shade, and continued on until late 2021 with the building of the multi-use beginner trail, the intermediate trail corridor and the Upper Advanced Mountain Biking trail, 95th Street. Portions of 95th St. and the new beginner and intermediate corridors replaced old legacy and deteriorated sections of trail.

Work on the park continued into 2022 with additional improvements and ongoing maintenance efforts.

Locust Shade, by the numbers

• The Project area included addressing issues on approximately 2-3 miles of multi-use trails, including the red trail, the blue trail loop, the teal power line loop (palmer trail) and the legacy Locust Shade Trail..

• The new aggregated trail mileage is approximately 7 miles, including two miles designated specifically for mountain biking, the first of their kind in Prince William County.

• Volunteers built six new creek crossings to mitigate issues with water flow and to help riders and hikers cross cross the short spans. The effort also included building a 66’ boardwalk to avoid a perpetually muddy section of trail along Russel Road.

• Volunteers, with assistance from professional trail builder Brock Lowery of Ironwood Outdoors, built multiple wood features of varying difficulty on both advanced MTB trails

• Over $100,000 was raised to fund the project, with grants from MORE, REI, The National Park Foundation, the Outdoor Foundation and private donors.

• Volunteers logged over 1000 hours of their time to work on the trails in 2020 and 2021. 651 of those hours were logged in 2021 alone. Work included ongoing trail maintenance and support to finish the new trails.

ABOVE: The updated “unofficial” map of Locust Shade Park. The portion of the old blue trail marked with red “Xs” is slated for closure in the near future. Colors reflect new blazes approved (selected) by the County.

Planning and Execution

• MORE volunteers and PWCPARKS staff began mapping and flagging potential new trail corridors in July 2017.

• MORE leadership began spearheading fund raising efforts. By 2020 MORE secured grants from REI, the Outdoor Foundation and the National Park Foundation totaling nearly $94,000 for construction of two advanced mountain bike trails, a beginner multi-use trail and intermediate multi-use trail corridor. In 2021 MORE augmented the trail budget with $10,000 from its General Trails Fund.

• In 2024 MORE augmented Locust Shade’s trail budget by an additional $5,000 from its General Trails Fund to help offset costs to refurbish the new Power jump line and perform various fixes on the Col Du Shade.

• The initial focus of the project is placed on the Lower Advanced Loop, aka “Col du Shade,” which became the first mountain bike specific trail in the County.

• Col du Shade (Lower Advanced MTB Trail): The final corridor flag line is approved in early May of 2019. Volunteers began corridor clearing in June, and worked through September, in anticipation of the builder’s arrival. Construction began in late 2019 and was completed in June 2020, in the midst of the COVID pandemic.

• Bolitas (Beginner Trail): Construction of the beginner trail began in late 2020 and was completed in November of that year.

• Intermediate Corridor: Volunteers began clearing the corridor for the intermediate trails in November/December 2020. Most of these trails required little, if any machine work. Volunteers built 6 creek crossings, including one 66’ boardwalk through the spring and summer of 2021.

• 95th Street (Upper Advanced MTB Trail): Trail Construction of the second mountain bike only designated trail began in August 2021. 95th Street “soft opened” to riders on October 12, 2021.

• Power: Construction of “Power” the dedicated jump line along the power lines was completed in 2023. Power was “refreshed” in the summer of 2024. Plans are currently being developed to extend Power.

ABOVE: early concept maps developed by PWC Parks staff for the Locust Shade trails re-alignment and trail revitalization project. The primary goal was to replace old unsustainable legacy trails with new sustainable multi-use corridors.

Lower Advanced Mountain Bike Trail, The Col Du Shade

• The Col Du Shade is situated in the South-West corner of Locust Shade Park along a back-fill area from the construction of I-95.

• Final planning and walk throughs for new Lower Advanced MTB corridor began in April 2019.

• Final flag line approved in early May of 2019. Volunteers began corridor clearing in June, with work running through September, in anticipation of the builder’s arrival, Iron wood Outdoors.

• Construction on the final Col Du Shade corridor began in late 2019 and was completed in June 2020 in the midst of the COVID pandemic. Virtual opening.

• The trail is located mostly on ‘back-fill’ from the construction of I-95.

ABOVE: Building the two wooden features and the long bench cut along the Col Du Shade.

Bolitas, the new beginner multi-use trail

With construction of the Col du Shade in progress, volunteers and County staff began flagging the corridor for the new beginner multi-use trail. The initial plans for this trail avoided the area between the existing maintenance road and Route 1, just south of the driving range. It was later determined, however, that this area was ideal and best suited for a beginner corridor. PWCPARKS staff flagged a new line along this section and worked with MORE volunteers to maximize the existing red trail corridor to minimize construction. The new corridor bypassed two steep and unsustainable sections of the old red trail, but retained several other portions. Construction of the beginner trail began in late 2020 and was completed in November of that year. The effort included volunteer teams “finishing” the roughed in machine work, along with the construction of a short elevated boardwalk to avoid crossing a run-off from Rt. 1. In 2022 volunteers worked with County staff and professional trail builder Brock Lowery to armor two creek crossing to mitigate erosion and improve water flow. The new crossings also improved overall user experience.

The new intermediate corridor

As completion of the beginner trail neared, volunteers began clearing the approved flag lines along the the intermediate multi-use corridor. Most of these trails would require little, if any machine work. By early December 2020 the corridor was cleared and opened for users to enjoy. Minor adjustments were made during the winter and spring of 2021 to improve sight lines and mitigate potential erosion issues. During that time, volunteers built 6 elevated boardwalks and one 66’ ground-level boardwalk through a perpetually muddy section of trail. The corridor clearing process included what would become the Upper Advanced MTB Trail, 95th Street. That section included realigning an unused portion of the old “Locust Shade” trail that ran parallel to I-95.

The Upper Advanced Mountain Bike Trail, 95th Street

The area where the Upper Advanced Trail (95th Street) is located was initially slated to be the new beginner trail at Locust Shade and included an old unused and in disrepair section of the original Locust Shade trail. After discussions with PWC Park Staff the focus for the beginner trail was shifted to the space just south of the driving range and along the old red trail corridor. This “shift” allowed MORE volunteers, with support from the County, to develop a comprehensive plan that would replace the old Locust Shade trail with a new sustainable advanced trail that included multiple progressive features that could help riders improve their skills. To that end, MORE volunteers worked closely with Ironwood outdoors to plan out a series of features that riders could session.

Clearing for what would become 95th Street was completed in December 2020 while the intermediate corridor was being worked on. Evidence of the old Locust Shade Trail was found during the clearing process, including old blazes and misc. items, including a loging chain and other debris. Between the spring and summer of 2021, in collaboration with Ironwood outdoors, various adjustments were made to the corridor line to maximize terrain and improve feature safety. Construction of the new trail began in August 2021 and included a considerable amount of volunteer support and donations to fund and build the advanced features. Workdays were organized during the last weekend in August, all weekends in September, and into the first week of October, to help open the trail to all users. 95th Street was “soft opened” to riders on October 12, 2021 with an official grand opening ceremony in November of 2021.

Power Jump Line

(Summer 2022 Update) In the spring of 2022 MORE received approval to add a jump line along the South-Eastern edge of the power line corridor parallel to the Dominion Energy right of way. That section already included a portion of singletrack that ran parallel to the wood line. MORE volunteers coordinated the delivery of 20 truck loads of dirt in order to complete the project. The condition for building the jump line was that no “digging” would take place along the proposed corridor. MORE volunteers, including Carlos Asturias of Astor Contractor LLC, worked with Ironwood outdoors to transport and shape the jumps. Final work was completed in August 2022 by volunteers, including the Fredericksburg Composite Mountain Bike Team.

MORE’s plan to extend the jump line was completed in August/September of 2024. The effort was celebrated by the first Locust Shade Rides and Jump Fest on September 15, 2024.

Locust Shade Tour

Below is my preferred route around this little gem of a park. Lots more coming in 2022 and into 2023…

The Locust Shade Timeline

A detailed look at how the Locust Shade system was transformed to a regional trail destination. (view full screen)