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Colt's Neck Trail
2 reviews
4 of 5
This trail is mostly located in Lake Fairfax Park and the trail is muti-use (hikers, bikers, horses, runners, etc.) so be prepared for traffic. A very fast rolling trail. The first half is wide doubletrack with lots of ups, downs, and roots, with a couple of water crossings.
Your first decision will be a Y-shaped intersection, go left to follow the loop to the campsites and pick up the singletrack again farther up the road on the right to get back to the soccer fields. OR go right at the intersection for some good hills that lead to the soccer fields. Follow the trail around the backside of the soccer fields back into the woods, this will eventually pop you out at the Cricket fields. Either go straight and get on the paved road to the parking lot or go right around the end of the cricket fields and onto a gravel fire road, which will also take you to the parking lot. At the far right end of the parking lot, pick the trail back up. This will take you all the way to Rt.7. To get off the Colt's Neck Trail and go to Great Falls, cross Rt.7. To continue on Colt's Neck Trail, cross the neighborhood entrance street and pick up the singletrack just past the grass clearing. Take this until you get to a gravel fire road that goes right. This will dead end into a street. This is the end of Colt's Neck Trail. You can make a loop back to your car though by going left on the street and picking up the Fairfax CCT paved trail and keep staying right at intersections. Take a right at the singletrack and follow until you come back out at the W&OD. Take the W&OD back to Michael Faraday (about 10 minutes) and go back to your car. This loop will probably take less than 2 hours.
Summary: As Kpicha mentioned above, Colt's Neck / CCT trail can be used as a recovery type ride, or pushed hard to make it a worth while training ride. The trail is a mix of single track, wide track, and paved track. There are a few climbs that you can do multiple times in order to get some good hill conditioning.
Recommended Route: Start in the parking lot at Michael Faraday Court.
I always take the trail all the way (crossing the neighborhood entrance road to connect to the single track beyond the grassy clearing) until I connect to the W&OD trail. Once there, I doubleback and ride the trail reverse, back to Michael Faraday Court. All in all, the ride is about 17 miles.
If you decide to take the W&OD trail back to Michael Faraday Court, it's about 11 or so miles total.
Occasionally, once I reach the neighborhood entrance road, I have crossed over route 7 to Colvin Run Road (and then take stoney road to the right) in order to continue on Colt's Neck. Although not very challenging, it's good for putting in extra mileage.
Other recommended trails in the same area: I've heard of a few trails off Reston Parkway, in South Reston somewhere. I'm still looking though....
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Summary: If you're looking to test out your speed, this is a great place to ride. Very fast, rolling hills with easy terrain (a couple of rooty spots but nothing unmanageable) make this a really fun, rollercoastery ride.
You can make this an easy recovery type ride or you can really push yourself for a good workout.
Lots of mud in some spots so be forewarned.
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