The Mount Vernon Trail is officially joining the Hall of Fame—and local bicyclists are invited to help celebrate!
Rails to Trails Conservancy (RTC) and the Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail will hold a special ceremony on Thursday, October 8, at 10:30 a.m. at the Lyndon B. Johnson Memorial Grove to celebrate the Mount Vernon Trail’s induction into RTC’s Trail Hall of Fame. The event will feature remarks from special guests as well as limited-edition Trail Hall of Fame swag.
FABB encourages area riders and trail supporters to attend and celebrate this well-deserved recognition of one of Northern Virginia’s most important bicycling and walking resources.
The 18.5-mile Mount Vernon Trail earned its place in the Hall of Fame after receiving 58 percent of the public vote. Since 2007, Rails to Trails Conservancy has recognized exceptional trails for qualities including scenic beauty, popularity, accessibility, historical significance, community connections, amenities, and excellence in management and maintenance.
Few trails check as many of those boxes as the Mount Vernon Trail. Running between Theodore Roosevelt Island and George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate, it combines spectacular Potomac River scenery with remarkable access to American history, wildlife, neighborhoods, employment centers, and other trails. Along the way, riders and walkers pass such landmarks as Old Town Alexandria, Jones Point Park, Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve and the Lyndon B. Johnson Memorial Grove, while enjoying views of some of Washington’s most recognizable monuments.
The Hall of Fame designation also recognizes the people who made the trail possible. The Mount Vernon Trail traces its origins to the determined advocacy of Ellen Pickering and Barbara Lynch, two Alexandria women who pushed in the early 1970s for a safe place for people to walk and bike along the Potomac. That tradition of citizen activism continues today through the Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail and the thousands of volunteer hours devoted to maintaining and improving the trail.
The trail is also much more than a recreational destination. It is a critical transportation corridor and an important component of the developing Capital Trails Network, the planned network of more than 1,000 miles of connected trails across Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. More than half of that network is now complete, creating increasingly useful connections for people traveling by bicycle and on foot throughout the Washington region.
As Rails to Trails Conservancy President Ryan Chao observed in announcing the award, Hall of Fame trails are not simply outstanding destinations—they are anchors for the communities they serve. The Mount Vernon Trail is a particularly good example: a trail born from citizen advocacy that has become both a nationally recognized destination and an indispensable part of Northern Virginia’s transportation and recreation network.
FABB congratulates the Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail, Rails to Trails Conservancy, the National Park Service, generations of volunteers and advocates, and everyone else who has helped make the Mount Vernon Trail the extraordinary community resource it is today.
Come celebrate with them.
Mount Vernon Trail Hall of Fame Ceremony
Thursday, October 8, 2026
10:30 a.m.
Lyndon B. Johnson Memorial Grove
Grab your bike—or simply come out to show your support—and help celebrate a Northern Virginia trail that truly belongs in the Hall of Fame.
