Meadowood Special Recreation Management Area

If you mountain bike and live in NorVA, you need to get out here. They have a nice outer loop trail with three harder trick/​flow trails along the way. Boss and Yard Sale are worth the drive out here. Stinger is obviously one of the first side trails and isn’t as fun as the rest, but it’s a pretty ride none the less.

Meadowood now has 3 intermediate /​advanced trails, which are a fun ride. As a warning, the BOSS trail is not for the faint of heart. Luckily, there is a path alongside the most challenging points, so you can bypass those if you like. Even not taking the advanced obstacles, the BOSS trail is challenging and fun.

I’ve hiked here several times, but usually from the Old Colchester Rd entrance. I like that it is free to enter, and all the trails meet so you can hike all over the park from any starting location.
Very nice that there usually (generally I go on weekdays) seem to be very few other people, so you can simply enjoy nature.
Some parts of the trails swing close to residences though, and today while walking I found lots of trash in the nearby woods because of this. Quite sad. :(

Meadowood in Lorton is a U.S. BLM maintained property with a number of equestrian, mountain bike, and hiker trails. FYI for horse people: The Harley Road trailhead parking lot is designed for horse trailers, with a nice turnaround. No need to back up! The map that comes up on Unilocal shows the BLM office, check the trail map online for trailhead parking lots. There are maps at the parking lots to take, with mileage for trail segments. I’m reviewing the recently opened 4.6 mile South Branch hiking and mountain bike trail. The trail is accessible from a few parking lots (see the trail map). I parked at the lot on Old Colchester Rd, which only has space for about 6 cars, but I’ve never had trouble parking. There are no restrooms, water fountains, or garbage cans, so plan to bring water, and pack your trash out. I think they participate in managed hunts (announced) but I would not be surprised to find poachers, so think twice about dressing in deer colored clothes! I’ve hiked and jogged the trail. There are a few segments where the trail splits and then merges, one more difficult segment for mountain bikes, another for hikers. The trails are clearly marked, and you can easily make a longer hike by combining trails. South Branch is shady, the whole way. The hills are challenging enough to be fun without being miserably painful. If you think of Burke Lake’s trail as a 1 on a 1 to 10 degree of difficulty, I’d rate South Branch as a 3 or 4 but I’m not the strongest hiker. There isn’t room for 2 to walk side by side in most spots, and keep your ears open. We yielded the trail to bikes, but the bike riders slowed and didn’t mow us down. If everyone plays well together it will help — a bike could topple down steep ravines in a couple of spots, they need some room. But bikes need to watch out too. Dogs are allowed, leash laws apply. I don’t think a jogging stroller would make it. Very bumpy. The marshy area has a raised walkway and the small creeks have bridges, so you will not get soaked. Mud pits have honeycomb cinderblock retainers which is really nice. I think this trail is a blast. I don’t like crowds and I like a challenge. This is a hard run for me, but a good one. I am so happy to find a place like this with no crowds. Love it!
This is the link to the trail map as of June 2012