🚀 go-pugleaf

On May 31, 11:56 am, k...@nospam.com wrote:
> That rule is posted on every station along the trail.  Yet I read here
> that a number of people ride and walk the trail at night.

The official regulations of the Northern Virginia Regional Park
Authority (NVRPA) and the Fairfax County Park Authority both clearly
state that all park facilities, unless specially illuminated for
nightime use, are closed between dusk and dawn.

The NVRPA website simply states this as "The park is open all year,
from dawn to dusk."(at [http://www.nvrpa.org/parks/wod/?
pg=hours.html]) and "Do not use the trail after dark." (at [http://
www.nvrpa.org/parks/wod/?pg=beaware.html]).

In practice, those traveling on the W&OD during darkness are seldom
stopped, but it does happen.  Since the metal bollards were removed
from trail entrances years ago, local police officers occasionally
drive their patrol cruisers on the W&OD after dark.  Several years
ago, I was stopped in Sterling by a Loudoun sheriff's deputy after 10
PM and ordered to leave the trail.

>  Won't the "Trail Patrol" guys get you if you do that?

As citizen volunteers, members of the Friends of the W&OD Trail Patrol
are equally prohibited from using the W&OD after hours, although I've
sometimes worn my Trail Patrol jersey when traveling the W&OD at
night.

Allen Muchnick
Arlington VA
muchnick@capaccess.org