Sunday, March 07, 2010

Huntley Meadows Park - An Excellent First Hike

The weather in DC was perfect today (just about 60° and sunny!) and my Mom was in from out of town - so it seemed like the perfect day to take our little guy on our very first family hike. I poked around this list of DC area hikes and tried to find one that was short, interesting for all, and wasn't too far a drive away. I ended up finding a 1.6 mile loop at Huntley Meadows. It was short enough, marked easy and included a boardwalk over wetlands - that certainly sounded interesting to me.

I have to say, I was really impressed. Huntley Meadows is really one of those hidden gems that you can live in DC for years and never hear of, yet, makes for a wonderful little walk through the woods. The trail really is easy - we opted to take our guy in a Baby Bjorn (you can see Shira did the schleping!), but we probably could have gotten away with using a stroller. Even with the easy terrain, it was still an interesting hike - the walk through the marshland was surprisingly dramatic, especially when you consider this is not some exotic location, but a park in Alexandria, VA.

If you've got young hikers, or are interested in birding - this is definitely a place you've got to check out.

Some photos below...

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