Discovery Trail Booming in its Sixth Year

Discovery Trail_071619_0027The 2019 Discovery Trail came speeding into your summer. Speeding, because this year’s theme is transportation. Are you keeping pace?

We’re offering you a tour of parks and tons of fun plus a chance to bring home a prize package or a free bike after a trek along the Discovery Trail. Both children and adults are eligible to win.

This is Discovery Trail Map’s sixth summer of fun, and it gets bigger every year. Did we say fun? Read what Springfield’s Judy Szabo told us last summer: “We have LOVED the Discovery Trail Maps program this summer. It was so much fun and very exciting to go to new places.”

This year’s map, in a nod to the 50th anniversary of man’s first footprints on the moon, chronicles the history of transportation in Fairfax County. Different types of transportation are featured in each of the 12 select parks on the trail.

Here’s how it works:

  • Pick up a map at any staffed Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA) location, any Fairfax County Public Library, any of the five Northern Virginia Spokes, Etc. locations, your Board of Supervisor’s office, or download one from www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/discovery-trail-map.Bicycle
  • Visit eight of the 12 featured parks and collect a sticker to place in the corresponding box on your map before September 3, 2019.
  • Redeem your map at Burke Lake Park, Green Spring Gardens or Frying Pan Farm Park for a prize packet that includes admission tickets for a round of mini golf, a carousel ride, a train ride, a tour boat ride, a pedal boat outing, camping, a wagon ride, a RECenter pass and a boat rental!
  • While you’re there, fill out a form to enter the drawing for one of four bicycles donated by Spokes, Etc. and Trek through the Fairfax County Park Foundation.

Still need convincing? Check out what the mother of one of last year’s bicycle winners said about the activity:

“It was seriously one of the best things we did this summer aside from our vacation. We discovered parks that we didn’t know existed. Had incredible time with family and friends. Discovered different animals, plants, habitats, and learned about them. Did things we haven’t done before like pedal boating. The reward at the end of the season completely exceeded our expectations and made all of us so happy because it continues the fun and we get to explore the other parks that we didn’t get a chance to go to. If you guys do this every summer, I’ll be singing its praises to all my mom friends for next summer!” -Rebecca Collegio, Falls Church

BL Sharon Clark_20190614_0071

Discovering fun at Burke Lake Park.

While at the parks this year, keep an eye out for a photo opportunity with our travelling astronaut and rocket. Snap a selfie with them and post it on Instagram with #FCPAmoonwalk for a chance to win one of several weekly prizes.

Participating sites are Burke Lake Park, Colvin Run Mill, Ellanor C. Lawrence Park, Frying Pan Farm Park, Green Spring Gardens, Hidden Oaks Nature Center, Hidden Pond Nature Center, Huntley Meadows Park, Lake Accotink Park, Lake Fairfax Park, Riverbend Park, and Sully Historic Site. Directions to each of the parks can be found on the Park Authority website and in Parktakes magazine.

The Discovery Trail Map is a great way for students to keep the knowledge flowing during summer months and for families to explore parks close to home. Pick up or download your Discovery Trail Map, explore your parks and win!

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About Fairfax County Park Authority

About Fairfax County Park Authority HISTORY: On December 6, 1950, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors created the Fairfax County Park Authority. The Park Authority was authorized to make decisions concerning land acquisition, park development and operations in Fairfax County, Virginia. To date, 13 park bond referenda have been approved between 1959 and 2016. Today, the Park Authority has 427 parks on more than 23,000 acres of land. We offer 325 miles of trails, our most popular amenity. FACILITIES: The Park system is the primary public mechanism in Fairfax County for the preservation of environmentally sensitive land and resources, areas of historic significance and the provision of recreational facilities and services including: • Nine indoor RECenters with swimming pools, fitness rooms, gyms and class spaces. Cub Run features an indoor water park and on-site naturalist • Eight golf courses from par-3 to championship level, four driving ranges including the new state-of-the-art heated, covered range at Burke Lake Golf Center • Five nature and visitor centers. Also nine Off-Leash Dog Activity areas • Three lakefront parks including Lake Fairfax, Lake Accotink and Burke Lake, with campgrounds at Burke Lake and Lake Fairfax. The Water Mine Family Swimmin’ Hole at Lake Fairfax, Our Special Harbor Sprayground at Lee as well as an indoor water park at Cub Run RECenter • Clemyjontri Park, a fully accessible playground in Great Falls featuring two acres of family friendly fun and a carousel, as well as Chessie’s Big Backyard and a carousel at the Family Recreation Area at Lee District Park • An ice skating rink at Mount Vernon RECenter and the Skate Park in Wakefield Park adjacent to Audrey Moore RECenter • Kidwell Farm, a working farm of the 1930s-era at Frying Pan Farm Park in Herndon, now with historic carousel • Eight distinctive historic properties available for rent • A working grist mill at Colvin Run in Great Falls and a restored 18th century home at Sully Historic Site in Chantilly • A horticulture center at Green Spring Gardens in Annandale • Natural and cultural resources protected by the Natural Resource Management Plan and Cultural Resource Plans, plus an Invasive Management Area program that targets alien plants and utilizes volunteers in restoring native vegetation throughout our community • Picnic shelters, tennis courts, miniature golf courses, disc golf courses, off-leash dog parks, amphitheaters, a marina, kayaking/canoeing center • Provides 263 athletic fields, including 39 synthetic turf fields, and manages athletic field maintenance services at 417 school athletic fields. PARK AUTHORITY BOARD: A 12-member citizen board, appointed by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, sets policies and priorities for the Fairfax County Park Authority. Visit https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/news2/social-hub/ for Fairfax County Government's Comment Policy.

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