 On September 25th, 2021, the Friends of the Dahlgren Trail and the Langa family hosted the 7th Big WOW (Walk on Wilson’s) on the DRHT. The goal of the WOW is to raise awareness for Wilson’s Disease (WD), a rare genetic disorder, and to support the WD Patient Registry for early diagnosis and treatment efforts. To learn more about WD and the WD Patient Registry please click here.
A beautiful day resulted in a wonderful family event that really showcased what the DRHT means for our community. Constantin Langa, one of the many volunteers who helped clear the trail of the rail ties over 15 years ago, was afflicted with the neurological symptoms of WD, which turned him from a very healthy and strong young man to a person who needs 24/7 assistance for daily living. To learn more about his story, please click here. The Dahlgren Trail has been used to bring awareness to our community about this debilitating disease. For this Big WOW, our community came together once again to support this cause. The Friends of the DRHT prepared the trail and helped to ensure a smooth event. KG Fire and Rescue had an ambulance on standby and for tours. This was a particularly fun activity for the children as the EMT staff let them see the inside of the ambulance. The main event, a walk down the beautiful trail, kicked off with an endearing speech by Nichole Langa, Constantin’s Langa’s wife, and a group picture. The attendees, including Constantin Langa riding in an off road chariot courtesy of Ainsley’s Angels of America, took a walk down the trail. As the sun beams were bursting through the trees, the signs along the trail with facts about WD and the laughter of friends and family, created a fantastic reminder of the impact that the DRHT has had on bringing our community together. Since 2015, and in its 7th year of hosting the Big WOW, the DRHT has provided a venue for helping raise awareness of WD and bringing our community together. A BIG THANK YOU goes to the Friends of the DRHT, David Brinkley (who attended and is the owner of the trail), KG Fire and Rescue, the Langa Family, and all the attendees. Without these wonderful people the Big WOW wouldn’t be what it was, an event that illustrates the power of love and community.
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  Welcome to August on the Dahlgren Trail! We're so excited to tell you about our big events from a couple weekends ago!
We've been conducting the 50K race on the Dahlgren Trail since 2009. That first year we had 53 runners. The following winter, a half marathon event was added, which attracted 88 runners. Later in 2016, we decided to add a coinciding half marathon to the August 50K, and it became very popular. Since that time, the total number of participants for both races has historically been about 100-120. Fast forward to this year - numbers were the highest ever in both races and for the combined total of 176! While the numbers are proof of the event popularity, we particularly enjoy hearing about participant's fondness for the trail. We have received many compliments, including, “great trail,” “well maintained,” and “thanks for providing this great opportunity to enjoy this area.” These types of comments make our work worth it! We can't say enough about our race directors – both current and past. After many years of establishing great events and a great reputation for our trail, Vic Culp turned the reins over to Arsenal Events, Kristen and Ken Loescher. They're doing a great job for the running community overall, and we are their biggest fans. They're continuing the tradition of great races on a great trail, and we couldn’t be more thankful! Runners also can't say enough about the event volunteers. In the words of one Arsenal Events staff member, “I have never heard so many complements after a race.” Thanks to our aid station volunteer teams led by Paula Van Alstine, Rod Schlemm, Jim and Elizabeth Buckley, and the King George Cross Country team! These volunteers provided positive energy on the course, giving the runners a boost! Special thanks to the Chief Petty Officers from Dahlgren for their help with parking and hamburger-flipping, and the King George Amateur Radio Organization for providing vital safety support. Our volunteer and maintenance coordinator, Warren Veazey, makes sure the trail is ready to go and the volunteers are well equipped – we wouldn’t be here without you, Warren! Last but not least, we express appreciation to the race sponsors: Exit Realty in King George, and Anytime Fitness in Dahlgren. Anytime Fitness provided some amazing volunteers too! 50K Winners: Natalie Daniels from Fredericksburg won the women’s category in 3:53:55. For men, Alex Hetherington from Vienna finished in 3:41:21. Alex has entered and won the race several times in the past. Natalie is the Assistant Cross-Country coach at KGHS and not only won the women's division, but was second overall! We were pleased to see Steve Desantis from Alexandria, who has completed every one of the 13 races. HHH Half Marathon Winners: Colby Miller from Henrico was first in 1:20:36 for the men. For the women, Rebecca Ivester from Fredericksburg won in 1:39:57. Congratulations to everyone who participated! Click here to find the full race results! Mark your calendar for next year’s HHH Half Marathon and 50K, to be held on August 6th. Please consider supporting us with your purchases on Amazon. Here's how it works: Go to www.smile.amazon.com and use the "AmazonSmile" tab on the left to choose our charity profile: Friends of the Dahlgren Railroad Heritage Trail. That's it! There is no cost to you, and 0.5% of your eligible purchases will be donated to us so that we can continue to improve the trail for everyone, all year round. We’d also like to thank the National Park Service; we've been working with them to develop a Master Plan for the trail. The effort has been hobbled by the COVID pandemic, so we've extended the work for another year. The Master Plan will represent the vision for the long term development of the trail. We depend greatly on what you, our trail users, would like it to be. Please don't hesitate to forward your thoughts using our comment form, here. We hope to see all of you on the trail. Fall is coming and a great time to get out there for a hike or a bike ride!  Summer is coming in hot and we're excited to see lots of visitors on the Dahlgren Trail! We want to make the trail as accessible, beautiful, and enjoyable as it can possibly be – and we’re constantly working to achieve that goal.
We are pleased to host our trail maintenance team and other community volunteers as they bush-hog, mow, and tree trim our quickly growing trail - and we sincerely thank them for all they do! One trail user recently sent a nice note about her visit to the trail: “My puppy and I really enjoyed it. So peaceful and beautiful.” We love notes like this and we hope to see you out there often! Speaking of inspiring notes, we were recently featured in Blue Ridge Outdoors' "Roads Less Traveled Through King George County, VA" spotlight article! We are proud to be part of this community, and we hope you'll enjoy reading the article here. We're getting ready to host the annual Dahlgren Trail 50K race in a few weeks, which is to be held on August 7th. This is a popular race that draws ultra-marathoners from around the region. This will be the 14th annual running of this race. Many of the runners return year after year. We also have a Half-Marathon that runs concurrently with the 50K for those whose cup of tea is 13.1 miles. This event requires a lot of volunteers and we appreciate everyone who pitches in to contribute to this community event. Id’ like to give a special shout-out to the King George Amateur Radio Organization (KGARO); these guys and gals provide critical safety support to the race, keeping an eye on the runners as they pass check points and making sure all runners are accounted for and safe. The Half Marathon and 50k race is directed and hosted by Arsenal Events; check them out and sign up for the race here! Also, be sure to look into the King George Race Series that features multiple distances and beautiful running trails and locations in our area! A trail user recently wrote a note asking if we knew what was going on with some tree cutting near the trail crossing on Caledon Road. Dominion Power was clearcutting some space for a new power line crossing and agreed to take the cleared trees to our Bloomsbury Road trailhead where we would put them to good use. There were a lot of very big logs that wound up in our parking lot! We took the smaller ones and cut them into bon-fire sized pieces and stacked them near our fire pit. The bigger ones we cut into stool and bench-sized seats and carried them down the trail to distribute for use. We are proud to provide these resting spots here and there along the trail for folks to sit and rest, read a book, and commune with nature. We sincerely appreciate Dominion's work with us! Thanks to trail maintenance champions for their special effort in this project. Warren Veazey and his sons Dylan and Karl put in some serious work! With summer rain, wind, and rapid growth of the plants and tress on the trail, you may see some tall grass, a leaning tree, or other trail maintenance issues. Our trail maintenance team is ready to help! Please let us know if you have suggestions or questions. Click here to contact us! Want to be part of the maintenance crew? Ask us about that too! We welcome your feedback about the trail and our activities anytime, via this form.  Summer is coming in hot and we're excited to see lots of visitors on the Dahlgren Trail! We want to make the trail as accessible, beautiful, and enjoyable as it can possibly be – and we’re constantly working to achieve that goal.
We have several projects that are in active motion. The major one is improving the parking area located on Indiantown Road. We plan to bring in several loads of gravel to improve the slope and drainage of the area. The entrance to the parking area will be paved, providing a smoother entrance and exit. The second project in the works is expanding a trail section just to the east of Comorn Road. This will involve some grading and gravel application, as well as possibly paving the entrance/exit ramp. And finally, we’re pursuing a small parking lot where the trail crosses Owens Drive. This would be a small graveled lot which should hold about ten cars. We look forward to updating you about these improvements. We welcome your feedback anytime, via this form. We were recently honored to receive a grant from Keep Virginia Beautiful! As part of their "Green Grants" program, we will use this funding to improve Dahlgren Trail accessibility, specifically the section of the trail around mile 2, which often becomes muddy and impassable after heavy rains. Learn more about this project, here. With summer rain, wind, and rapid growth of the plants and tress on the trail, you may see some tall grass, a leaning tree, or other trail maintenance issues. Our trail maintenance team is ready to help! Please let us know if you have suggestions or questions. Click here to contact us! Want to be part of the maintenance crew? Ask us about that too! We've also got some great events planned for the coming months! Please click here to read about all those upcoming dates and information!  Keep Virginia Beautiful will award its annual “Green Grants” each day during the month of June. Friends of the Dahlgren Trail, in King George Virginia, received a grant award of $750 for its Community Beautification project. Government, non-profit, civic and service organizations in Virginia were invited to apply for Keep Virginia Beautiful "Green Grants," and were asked to describe how they plan to tackle an environmental concern in their community regarding Litter Prevention, Recycling, Cigarette Litter Prevention, or Community Beautification. A special focus of the "Green Grants" this year is to support diverse groups and underserved populations by adding five additional grant awards, for a total of thirty-five awards. There are areas on the Dahlgren Trail that need raised bridges or boardwalks to ensure safe and equitable access for those with limited mobility. Funds from the Green Grant will be used to build a raised boardwalk in a chronically muddy and sometimes impassable section of the trail. The particular area to be improved is located at approximately mile 1.9, which is one of the most commonly visited and used sections of the Dahlgren Trail, near the trailhead. The mission at Keep Virginia Beautiful is to engage and unite Virginians to improve the natural and scenic environment. Since 2011, Keep Virginia Beautiful has provided $254,500 for 320 different environmental programs and projects all across the Commonwealth, due to the generosity of their partnership with Altria, as well as additional support from Coca-Cola, WestRock and Keep America Beautiful.      We are spring cleaning on the Dahlgren Trail - and looking forward to 2022!
Trees, vegetation, grass, wildlife, and trail popularity is growing fast this time of year! To keep up, our volunteer trail maintenance team is working hard to keep the trail in tip top shape! If you happen to see anyone performing trail maintenance, please thank them for their work! If you are interested in joining the maintenance team, please reach out to us; we're happy to help students with volunteer hours, scout troops, and anyone else who wants to give back and contribute to their community. If you are not able to volunteer your time, please consider making a donation to the trail so that we can continue our efforts at not only maintaining, but actively improving the trail. We have been collecting comments from users about "wish list" features that they'd like to see on the trail, and we are gathering funds to implement and install new trail amenities for everyone to enjoy. We're looking at our race schedule for the future, including the King George Trail Series which we run in conjunction with our friends at Caledon State Park, and our race directors Kristen Loescher at Arsenal Events and Chris Chalkley from the Sheetz to Sheetz Run. We're hoping to add a fifth race to the series: a 10-miler that would loop around Caledon and the Dahlgren Trail. In 2022, we're hoping to host the start line of the summer 50k at the Dahlgren end of the trail instead of Bloomsbury Road. We're also looking at having our traditional winter half-marathon in April instead of February. In the mean time, please be sure to check out upcoming 2021 events: Speaking of races, a group of elementary and middle school children came out to the trail last weekend for their weekly running club event. The club, the Running Warriors, ran their first Dahlgren Trail 5k! It was a great success; tons of fun and beautiful weather made for memorable experiences for all! Dahlgren trail board member, Kevin Biondi, was the spear-head of this event, along with Middle School Teacher, Mrs. Dee Strauss. We're hoping the club will visit the trail often! We would like to remind everyone of the recently approved addresses for our trail access parking areas. We would like to give a special thanks to the staff of the King George Community Development Office for assisting us:
Our last reminder: the Dahlgren Trail is a privately owned piece of property - and all trail users need to request a use permit. Permits are free, and can be requested online. Please click here to request yours today!  The Dahlgren Trail is a privately owned piece of property - and all trail users need to request a use permit. Permits are free, and can be requested online. Please request your permit today!
"Our Community Comes Together & The Trail Runs Through It..." We are proud to welcome new and returning trail users to enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of springtime on the Dahlgren Trail! We are delighted to see seasonal wildlife and blooming plants populate the beautiful trail, and we continue to work hard to provide access and engagement opportunities for those who wish to come observe the beauty and take a breath of fresh air. Over two recent weekends, we hosted a roadway litter clean up for a section of Indiantown Road that we adopted through the state's "Adopt-A-Highway" program. We are so grateful for everyone who came to support us and the roads of King George that we're glad to call home! Speaking of local roadways - we would like to formally announce the recently approved addresses for our trail access parking areas. We would like to give a special thanks to the staff of the King George Community Development Office for assisting us:
 As you may already know, the Dahlgren Trail has been designated a National Recreation Trail and a part of the developing Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail (PHNST) network which stretches over 830 miles. Earlier this month we were proud to host new Acting Superintendent of the PHNST, Anne O'Neill. We provided a tour of the trail, spoke about future development goals and milestones, and enjoyed a meet-and-greet with lunch at Caledon State Park, joined by members of the King George Board of Supervisors, Chairman Annie Cupka, and Vice-Chairman Jeff Stonehill, Park Staff, Dahlgren Trail owner David Brickley, and several members of the public.  In case you missed the news last month: we were able to rally a group of dedicated volunteers and community members to construct raised boardwalks through a chronically muddy section of the Dahlgren Trail. When the Sheetz-To-Sheetz Trail Run appeared on our doorstep this year, we wanted to ensure that all walkers, runners, hikers, and wheelchair athletes could successfully navigate the trail in time to enjoy this popular local event.
 We are literally building bridges to welcome new trail users!
Over the past few weekends, we were able to rally a group of dedicated volunteers and community members to construct raised boardwalks through a chronically muddy section of the Dahlgren Trail. When the Sheetz-To-Sheetz Trail Run appeared on our doorstep this year, we wanted to ensure that all walkers, runners, hikers, and wheelchair athletes could successfully navigate the trail in time to enjoy this popular local event.
In addition to the two recent events on the trail, the Dahlgren Trail Half Marathon & Sheetz-To-Sheetz Trail Run, we have been continuing our quest for dry conditions and improved drainage in several areas along the trail. Our friend Ian Littlejohn has also been assisting us with some much needed surveying work; differing types of rail corridor boundaries were installed in the early 1940s when the railroad was being constructed. Over the years, those boundaries have been lost or moved around. Our efforts to clean up those boundary areas, identify clean property lines of homeowners adjacent to the trail, and identify historical markers are important not just to the preservation of trail history but also to allow for informed trail expansion plans and decisions. For those trail users who have followed us for a few years, you may recall the former superintendent of the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, Don Briggs. He retired some years ago and a new acting superintendent Anne O'Neill will be vising the trail later this month. The Dahlgren Trail is a piece of the 830-mile long Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, and we are happy to welcome Anne and continue our goal of being an integrated into current trail systems and the VA State Park System. Lastly, we are proud to recognize trail owner, David G. Brickley. A lifelong advocate and champion of trails, greenways and conservation efforts in Virginia, David recently earned the Boy Scouts of America William T. Hornaday Gold Medal for Distinguished Service to Natural Resource Conservation! The William T. Hornaday Award, first granted in 1915, is the oldest continuous conservation award given by any organization in the United States. It’s one of the rarest awards given in the Boy Scouts of America, as only 62 people have received the gold medal award since 1915. Read more about David and his contributions to the great outdoor spaces in Virginia, click here. Thanks for reading, and see you on the trail! The Dahlgren Trail was purchased in 2006 by David G. Brickley. A lifelong advocate and champion of trails, greenways and conservation efforts in Virginia, David recently earned the Boy Scouts of America William T. Hornaday Gold Medal for Distinguished Service to Natural Resource Conservation! The William T. Hornaday Award, first granted in 1915, is the oldest continuous conservation award given by any organization in the United States. It’s one of the rarest awards given in the Boy Scouts of America, as only 62 people have received the gold medal award since 1915. Read more about David and his contributions to the great outdoor spaces in Virginia, click here.  |
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