Incorporate the Dahlgren Trail into the VA State Park System

In case you didn’t know, our goal for the Dahlgren Trail is to become part of Caledon State Park and the Virginia State Park system. GOOD NEWS! The Department of Recreation and Conservation (DCR) recently completed a study that illustrated that the Dahlgren Trail is "suitable" to join Caledon as a state park! Click here to read the results of the study.

Our next step is to move forward and get this information and public support in front of our legislature. WE NEED YOU, our trail users and friends, to contact your local legislators and tell them that you support the Dahlgren Trail's incorporation into the VA State Park System.

Here is what to do:
Contact your local legislative representatives - email them to share your experiences on the trail, tell them about the trail's value in this region, and directly ask for their support when the time comes for them to vote upon the topic of incorporation into the VA State Park System.
You can find the name and contact information for your local representative here. Your legislator might change in January with redistricting, but it’s vitally important that as many of our legislators as possible are aware of the trail's goal. They will all have to vote on it! If you live in King George and the surrounding area, your legislators are:
Senator Richard Stuart: [email protected]
​Delegate Margaret Ransone: [email protected]

​Here is a draft to help you get started. Feel free to copy and paste this text as a baseline for your email to your legislators:

---

Dear VA Legislators,

I'm reaching out in support of the Dahlgren Railroad Heritage Trail, and it's incorporation into the VA State Park System.
​
The 16-mile Dahlgren Railroad Heritage Trail follows the route of the 1940s Dahlgren Branch Rail Line, and stretches across King George County just south of the Potomac River in Virginia's Northern Neck. The trail is open for walking, running, cycling, and other non-motorized recreational uses, and is frequently used as a non-motorized commuting route to the town and military support facility in Dahlgren, VA. The trail is comprised of 240 acres of preserved sanctuary of unspoiled forest, wetlands, and streams for native wildlife and natural beauty.

To be sustained, expanded, and permanently preserved for future generations, the Dahlgren Trail needs professional management that can only be provided by incorporation into the VA State Park System alongside Caledon State Park.

[If you have a memorable story or experience on the trail - insert it here].

As a community member, Dahlgren Trail user and supporter, I ask for your support regarding the incorporation the Dahlgren Railroad Heritage Trail into the VA State Park System. This recreational trail is a valuable and cherished gem in this region, and I want to see it protected for generations to come.

Thank you,
[Your Name]