A Tandem Ride at Burke Lake Park

A Tandem Ride at Burke Lake Park

I am still taking some time off from work after the holidays.  And as I’ve written previously in this blog, weekends, holidays and other time off from work provide ideal opportunities to venture away from the city and explore any one of the many local, regional and state parks in the D.C. metro area. For this ride, I took my oldest daughter along and we enjoyed a tandem ride at Burke Lake Park.

Burke Lake Park is located off Interstate 95, approximately a half an hour south of D.C., at 7315 Ox Road in Fairfax Station, Virginia (MAP). The public park is owned by the Fairfax County Park Authority, and was built on 888 acres of land that had been purchased by the Federal government in the 1950s for an international airport. However, when the site where Dulles Airport is now located was chosen as a replacement, the land was developed by Fairfax County as a public park.

The park is open from sunrise to sunset and offers a myriad of activities, including a miniature train, carousel, outdoor volleyball courts, open fields, Frisbee golf, horse shoe pits, an ice cream parlor, picnic areas with grills, three playgrounds, an amphitheater, camping, and a marina and boat rentals for enjoying the main feature of the park, a 218-acre lake owned by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.  The park also includes a miniature golf course, as well as an 18-hole par-three golf course, a driving range, and a clubhouse with snack bar.

As if all of these amenities were not already enough, Burke Lake Park also boasts one of the ten best fitness trails in the nation, as named by the American Hiking Society.  The Burke Lake Loop Trail follows the shoreline 4.7 miles around the lake, with bays jutting out from the main body of water that provide variations in the trail.  Gravel surfaced for most of its length, Burke Lake’s loop trail is not just suitable for walking and running, but is an excellent trail for biking as well.

The Burke Lake Trail Loop is one of the most scenic and enjoyable trails in the D.C. area.  The only thing that could make it better is enjoying it with someone special, like I did.