This State Forest Offers a Woodsy Escape From Northern Virginia

The pine plantation at Conway Robinson State Forest transports you from NoVA's stressors.

By Kelly Magyarics • Posted August 22, 2024 at 11:01 a.m.

Photo by Kelly Magyarics

Scenic hikes, quiet trails, historic sites: You don’t have to leave NoVA to find these picture-perfect spots, hiding in plain sight.

Like many of us during the pandemic, I was constantly seeking nearby, yet off-the-beaten-path, spots to soak in nature while social distancing. One day, a search in the AllTrails app led me to Conway Robinson State Forest, a 440-acre oasis in Gainesville right off Routes 66 and 29. The easy rating seemed perfect for my two hiking-averse teenagers, so we headed there on Mother’s Day afternoon when they couldn’t refuse Mom’s wish for fresh air and sunshine.

After a quick check of the trail map, we set out on the left entrance blaze of the Blue Trail, a 3-mile loop. We meandered through the forest, crossing the occasional fallen oak trunk and coming across large-flowered trillium, pink lady’s slippers, and a few resident red-bellied and downy woodpeckers — we even saw an abandoned railroad bed from the uncompleted line of the Manassas Gap Railroad.

About two-thirds of the way through, the trail turned, and we came upon the most spectacular section of the entire forest: a long pathway lined on both sides with slender, towering loblolly pine trees, some upwards of 100 feet tall. This was a much more dramatic vista than we had expected.

Our gazes turned skyward to the canopy, partially obscuring the blue sky and puffy clouds, as we watched the branches and slim, reddish-brown, scaly trunks sway in the breeze. Thanks to a thick blanket of fallen needles and pinecones, the wind was now the only sound, concealing the nearby traffic, the birds, everything. 

I’ve returned to hike here several times since, introducing out-of-town friends and family to that awe-inducing pine plantation that suddenly appears on the straightaway. Now, just as on that first visit, my beloved secret space feels — and transports me — a world away from the NoVA suburbs. 

Parking off Route 29, 1 mile west of Manassas National Battlefield Park