Capital area trail in Virginia receives Hall of Fame award

The Mount Vernon Trail is the newest member of the Rail to Trails Conservancy’s Hall of Fame.

October 16, 2026

The Mount Vernon Trail was started in 1972 by two women, Ellen Pickering and Barbara Lynch, as a way for bike riders to travel along the Potomac River without having to ride on the George Washington Memorial Parkway. (Adobe Stock)

By Zamone Perez

A well-known outdoor recreation corridor in Virginia is getting some national love from a walking and bicycling advocacy organization.

The Mount Vernon Trail is the newest member of the Rail to Trails Conservancy’s Hall of Fame. It stretches more than 18 miles from George Washington’s Virginia estate up to Theodore Roosevelt Island across the Potomac from Georgetown.

Walkers, cyclists and runners can take in iconic views like the Washington Monument and important ecological sites like the Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve.

Matt de Ferranti, chair of the Arlington County Board, said the scenery and smooth travel on the trail made it a perfect candidate for the honor.

“It really feels like the right step to recognize this as a Hall of Fame trail because it is,” de Ferranti explained. “The Potomac is on your side as you take this trail, and it’s almost when you’re biking or running, you need to keep reminding yourself to take a look ’cause it is an incredible view, an incredible trail.”

The Mount Vernon Trail received 58% of a public vote out of three locations across the country, with the others in Ohio and Texas.

A beautiful view from the Mount Vernon Trail — The Mountain Vernon Trail runs through Lady Bird Johnson Park, which offers this view of the Potomac and Washington Monument. (Victoria Stauffenberg/National Park Service)

Mount Vernon Trail part of a larger network

The trail is also a major part of the Capital Trails Network, a project planning to connect more than 1,000 miles of trails across Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland. To date, more than half of the network has been constructed and will generate an estimated $1 billion in economic activity once completed.

De Ferranti added outdoor recreation like the Mount Vernon Trail is a major pull for the people and businesses making Arlington home.

“I think it’s a very, very important piece of what makes Arlington a great place to live and what is attracting so many people in addition to companies to want to be here,” de Ferranti emphasized.

Arlington has frequently been cited as the fittest city in the U.S. by the American College of Sports Medicine and its access to walking and biking has been cited as a major reason.