Smog Dog

Review of Huntley Meadows Park

This is a wonderful place for kids, adults, and ph...

This is a wonderful place for kids, adults, and photographers. If you live in the DC area, it s hard to beat the mix of forest, marsh, and wildlife watching within a 45 minute radius as Huntley Meadows. You can see muskrats, beavers, snakes, raccoons, turtles, butterflies, great blue herons, turtles, and much much more depending on when you go and the time. One of the best times to go for spotting mammals is in spring and summer. During the fall, you won t see as much. The trail is super easy and flat, and the highlight of course is the .5 mile boardwalk portion. Tips: bring binoculars (for spotting the beavers and birds in the distance), a magnifying glass (especially for the kids who can view a ton of interesting fauna), and bug spray...there are mosquitos. It s a small parking lot but if it s full you can park on the right side of the entrance road as you enter. Best time to go is before 10:30 am to beat the crowds. Photographers also like to get there during the golden hours with their big cameras so keep that in mind too. All in all a wonderful place. For more info do check out the friends of Huntley park page for all the types of things you can see there. Finally, no bathrooms as visitor center is closed. And if you have a dog, they can come on the trail but can t go on the boardwalk.