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Spend Some Time in the Park on New Years Day
There's no better way to greet the New Year than a walk in the park! You'll get a chance to clear your head, relax from the stress of the holiday season and enjoy nature as well. Mason Neck State Park and the Friends of Mason Neck State Park have teamed up to offer you a full slate of hiking opportunities on New Years Day. The Friends are holding a walk to see the Tundra Swans, leaving at 2 PM from the Woodmarsh Trail, which is on the left a quarter-mile BEFORE the Park's Contact Station. Details are at Tundra Swan Hike. And the Park is offering three hiking opportunities: a 3.5 mile walk at an easy pace at 10 AM; an invigorating, faster-paced hike of 5.5 miles at 11 AM; and a leisurely one-mile walk at 3 PM. Entrance to the Park is free on January 1. Details on the Park's walks are at Park First Day Hikes. Come out on New Years Day and enjoy one of Northern Virginia's most beautiful parks!
The Friends of Mason Neck State Park is a Section 501(c)(3) organization that works to conserve, enhance, and interpret the Park's natural, educational, recreational, cultural and historic resources. We assist the Park Staff in implementing its programs and activities such as the annual Eagle Festival, shoreline cleanups, and outreach events. We also sponsor special events such as our annual Owl Moon and Holiday Party, help guide canoe and kayaking trips and lead hikes.
To learn about our upcoming and recent activities, go to our News Page.
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The Friends of Mason Neck State Park are doing their part to slow the production and disposal of plastics. Plastic bottles take as long as 450 years to decompose in the environment. Before they do, they break down into "micro-plastic" bits that are eaten by animals and can end up in our own bodies. On land, plastic adversely affects soil fertility, and can choke our streams and rivers.
The Friends of Mason Neck State Park have stopped offering disposable water bottles to Park volunteers and at Friends events. Instead, they are offering free multi-use bottles that recipients can take home with them. Hopefully, people will use these bottles instead of buying more disposable ones.
Mason Neck State Park also is committed to reducing the use of disposable plastic bottles and has installed water bottle filling stations at the Visitor Center and the picnic area.
Do your part too: find ways to limit your use of disposable plastics, including those grocery store bags that have a typical useful life of 15 minutes -- the time to get from store to home -- and take 1000 years to decompose in a landfill.
Mason Neck State Park is located on the Mason Neck peninsula in southeastern Fairfax County, Virginia. The Park's wetlands, forest, water, ponds, and fields are home to a variety of wildlife, including bald eagles, osprey, geese, ducks, swans, and other birds living on or near the Potomac River, Kane's Creek, and Belmont Bay.
The Park has hiking trails, three miles of paved multi-use trails, a large picnic area, a playground, a car-top canoe and kayak launch, and a visitor center. Canoe, kayak, and bicycle rentals are available.
