Iconic Mount Vernon Trail inducted into Rails to Trails Hall of Fame

The Mount Vernon Trail. It is an 18.5-mile ribbon that stretches from the shaded sanctuary of Theodore Roosevelt Island all the way to George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate. On a clear day, when the sun catches the Potomac, the water glistens and shimmers, opening up majestic views across the river where it feels like you can see forever. Flanked by lush hardwoods and tidal marshland, this tranquil corridor offers a front-row seat to the capital skyline—a serene green oasis running right along the water’s edge into Alexandria.

Yesterday, October 8, this crown jewel of the region—boasting approximately one million users annually—was inducted into the Rails to Trails Conservancy Hall of Fame. Over the summer, thousands of supporters helped decide which trail would earn the top honor. This coveted list recognizes America’s most outstanding multi-use trails.

On a picture-perfect early fall morning, RTC and the Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail held a ceremony at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac. The outdoor event drew elected officials, community leaders, and outdoor enthusiasts who regularly bike and walk this multi-use trail. Before the induction ceremony, attendees arrived early for a group bike ride or walk.

“It is one of America’s standout trails and a treasured favorite of the region,”  Ryan Chao began as he welcomed the large crowd. Chao paid homage to Ellen Pickering and Barbara Lynch, who hatched the idea to build this trail over fifty years ago. On April 15, 1972, the Mount Vernon Trail opened to the public.

“Those women crafted a vision for a safe space in their community where people could walk, bike, and be active outdoors,” Chao continued. “That spirit carries forward to the present when volunteers work year-round to promote and activate this amazing trail. Today the trail connects communities; it connects people to jobs, parks, transit, and places they want to go. It connects visitors and residents to some of the most well-known historic sites in our nation’s capital.”

The mostly paved pathway connects Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax County and links to numerous parks, historical sites, and city centers.

Connecting Local Transportation and Community

The roar of overhead airplanes punctuated the speeches, drowning out some of the words. Alexandria Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley took the opportunity to weave that interruption into her address. Later she talked to Zebra about how the trail serves as a prime transportation connector. Bagley is an avid bicyclist and one can often catch her tooling around town on her motor bike as she cruises from one event to another. She talked about walking out of Reagan National Airport to discover a Capital Bike Share station right outside the exit.

“The airport bike share is attached to the Mount Vernon trail. The airport also provides large lockers where people can ride their own bikes and lock them for free via an app.  I have done it several times myself,” Bagley shared. “I mentioned it to highlight the immediate connectivity between this economic driver, the airport; and the trail and how wonderful it is if you’re lucky enough to be able to get off a plane and get outdoors and stretch your legs and immediately have that beauty and fresh air.”

Asa Orrin-Brown biked over to the ceremony from his home on Alexandria’s West End. A passionate bicyclist and secretary of the Alexandria Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee, he tells Zebra he and his wife have gone car light. Orrin-Brown is a professional photographer and frequently travels the Mount Vernon Trail for work.

“I really love taking the Mount Vernon Trail whenever I’m going anywhere along it. It’s not always the most direct route, it’s not always the fastest, but I really enjoy time in nature and I find it rejuvenating. It’s terribly stressful to drive in this area, which is one of the reasons I switched to biking more often,” Orrin-Brown noted. “Off road options like the Mount Vernon Trail where I can be in nature and see beautiful things, really just make my life so much more amazing and full. I really love the Mount Vernon Trail and living close to it is one of the reasons that I really love living in Alexandria.”

Dedicated Community Stewardship

Judd Isbell is president of Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail. He founded the organization six years ago with Josephine Liu. The group partners with the National Park Service and seeks to keep the trail safe and welcoming for all users through education, trail maintenance, and community events.

“I had the opportunity to talk to Barbara Lynch five years ago,” Isbell told the audience. “She told me that when the trail was first built, she and Ellen Pickering used to call each other and say, ‘Somebody is on the trail today! I saw.’ For Barbara Lynch and Ellen Pickering, it wasn’t a trail, it was their trail. Somebody was on their trail. I want everybody here to feel that way, that this isn’t the Mount Vernon Trail. This is your trail, and that’s what makes it the Hall of Fame trail.”

Isbell said volunteers have spent over 20,000 hours working on the Mount Vernon Trail.

“When I ride the trail, it’s not the Mount Vernon  trail, it’s I cut a tree limb there. I patched a pothole there once,” Isbell concluded. “The Mount Vernon trail is my trail. We get to steward it. I go to our trail partners and say we wanna do this thing, and we always find a way to get to yes, even if it’s something crazy like we’re gonna pull 400 feet of pressure washing hose through the woods to get to this bridge because it needs to be clean ’cause it’s slippery. We’ll do it. We’ll find a way to do it.”

More photos, all by Judith Fogel