Prince William Forest Park

July 16, 2021

Looking for a “a drop-dead beautiful place” (Tripadvisor review, Oct. 2019) that is also a quiet respite from the activity of the big city and was once training ground for spies? That’s pretty specific, but we found it for you. Prince William Forest Park (PWFP) is located only 35 miles south of Washington, D.C. along the I-95 corridor. At 15,000-acres, it is the largest park in the National Park Service’s Washington Capital Region and one with an eventful past.

Archery Lesson. Credit: National
Park Service Museum Collection

Recreation

The park has 37 miles of hiking trails, rustic cabins, an RV campground, and primitive hike-in campsites. The park covers much of the Quantico Creek watershed with several streams and ponds for fishing and exploring.

Are you up for a navigational challenge? Grab a map and a compass from the visitor’s center to try your hand at orienteering. This Scandinavian sport uses a map and compass to navigate to various checkpoints throughout the forest. The park has 30 orienteering courses for all navigational skill levels. You will have a chance to practice your spy skills, like park residents of the past.

Park’s Past

Like many parks in the National Park Service, PWFP has a storied past. Prior to the Great Depression there were several well-populated African American communities in the area including Hickory Ridge and Batestown. These towns had been well established for hundreds of years. The towns grew after the Civil War as many formally enslaved people moved in and called it home. Many of the residents worked in the local Cabin Branch Pyrite Mine until the mine closed in 1920.

When the federal government instituted the Resettlement Administration (RA) program in 1935 to provide land to struggling farmers, they bought or condemned much of the property and forced the community out of their homes. Many residents resisted. The federal government continued to acquire land as part of the Recreational Demonstration Area program which claimed to protect forestland, provide jobs, and create recreational opportunities for nearby city-dwellers. This stretch of Eastern Piedmont forest would soon become the Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area. It was thought to be a shining example of what the RA program could do. In 1948 the park was renamed Prince William Forest Park.

War-time Efforts

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, area residents who had not left by the 1940s were forcibly removed to make way for a training camp for the Office of Strategic Services (now known as the CIA). The Quantico Marine Corps Base abuts the park to the south. The park’s relationship with the base was fraught, but fruitful, for both parties. The military used the camp cabins, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, to train spies and radio operators. There was even a “Little Tokyo” training facility. At one point, the park administrator convinced the military to build roads and other infrastructure in the park as part of their training operations. In honor of its war-time history, the park now holds a 3-day Spy Camp each summer.

A more detailed account of the park’s fascinating history can be found in Prince William Forest Park: An Administrative History.

A Visitor’s Center with maps and information is located at 18170 Park Entrance Road in Triangle, Virginia. The PWFP staff frequently update the COVID-19 operating status so please check online prior to heading out.

In the Shenandoah basin, water levels are low but may rise with any storms. Anglers are reporting smallmouth bass in both the North and South forks. Around Front Royal the mainstem is fishing well with smallmouth bass, sunfish, and catfish. Mountain streams are low and clear, with stealthy anglers getting some nice trout.

The South Branch Potomac has stable flows and is giving up some smallmouth bass and channel catfish. The North Branch Potomac action has slowed somewhat but continues to produce some nice rainbow and brown trout downstream of Jennings Randolph Reservoir. Trout management and put-and-take areas continue to produce some nice fish. The cicadas remain in this and other cooler areas but are declining. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources recently monitored fish populations in the North Branch showing an increasing population of both rainbow and brown trout.

Little Girl Fishing at Little Seneca Lake

The upper Potomac River is running somewhat low and clear, with water temperatures in the low 80s. Lander and Brunswick are busy and giving up smallmouth bass and channel and flathead catfish. The segment from Seneca to the mouth of the Monocacy river continues to fish well, especially in the morning hours. Anglers are fishing mid-river rocks and structure with stick worms and swim baits fished slowly. Anglers also are finding channel and flathead catfish and carp. Some nice bluegill round out the menu.

Fishing in the metropolitan Potomac remains slow. Anglers are targeting bridge pilings, docks, and other structure with stick worms, soft plastics, and crankbaits. The Washington Channel remains a good spot, with a mix of largemouth bass and catfish along the channel dropoff.  Hydrilla is emerging in some areas, and the edges of those patches are good bets. All baits should be fished slowly in the warm water, which is in the mid 80s.

Downstream, bass are in summer mode and seeking the shade of grass beds, docks and other structure. Morning high tides allow the use of slowly fished stick worms and chatterbaits over the beds, and the edges as water lowers. Tidal currents will be strong with the new moon. Grass beds become more prevalent downstream of Piscataway. Swim baits work well around hard structure.

Mattawoman Creek grass and plant beds are giving up some largemouth bass,  as are the tidal creeks on the Virginia side of the river. Pohick Bay coves and shorelines hold bass and snakeheads. Blue catfish are most everywhere. Anglers are reporting some nice snakeheads in the grass at the head of tidal creeks.

Maryland’s tidal tributaries are closed to striped bass fishing from July 16 through July 31 to preserve the species during high temperature days. Virginia tributaries of the Potomac are closed until October 4. The tidal Potomac mainstem is closed for striped bass through August 20.

From Colonial Beach to the river’s mouth, water is becoming more stratified and a developing area of depleted oxygen on the bottom means lures should be fished above 15 feet. This region has chronic summertime areas of low bottom oxygen as surface water warms. Many dolphin pods are being seen in this area down to the river’s mouth.

Near the river’s mouth, anglers are finding a lot of Spanish mackerel. White perch, spot, and speckled trout are part of the mix, along with blue catfish. Some Cobia and bluefish are moving up the bay toward the Potomac and will be around as the summer progresses. Crabbing remains spotty.

We are grateful to the many river watchers who contribute to this effort. Particular thanks go to the state departments of natural resources, Potomac River Fisheries Commission, National Bass Guides, Shallow Water Fishing Adventures, and Machodoc Creek Marina.