Gainesville, Haymarket, Bristow,- walking/biking trails: (Centreville, Manassas: neighborhoods, living)

[Quinn-VA]

For those of you familiar with these areas,- do you know if there are any nice paths/trails there? Me and the kids love to be outdoors, taking walks or bikerides several time a week. We are thinking about moving to one of these areas and would appreciate any input!

Thanks!

[DavidS827]

I live in that area and yes, many of the communities do have walking/biking trails. There is also some decent hiking on Bull Run Mtn as well as a few places to do some rock climbing. If you are in to fishing, many of the streams and lakes out here are fairly "untapped" and are great spots to go.

..on a side note, if you have to commute east towards DC, I would suggest living on the north side of 29. You will cut at least 20 minutes off your commute.

[Quinn-VA]

Thanks, David. Do these trails go on for many miles? Are they mostly throughout the neighborhoods or in nature?

Appreciate the advice on the commute, as I wasn't aware of that.

[DavidS827]

It depends on which neighborhood you are looking in. Many of the trails snake through the neighborhoods, so i'm sure they're probably several miles long. Most of the neighborhoods out here have done at least a decent job of preserving nature, so I think you'll find a nice mix of neighborhood and nature trails. You'll certainly find more nature trails on the north side, as it is in the Rural Crescent and much of the land is protected.

As for the commute...In the morning you can take back roads and pick up 66 in Manassas, so you avoid all of the congestion in Gainesville while they construct the new interchange. In the evening, you can either get off in Centreville and take back roads or Manassas and reverse the route you took that morning.

[Quinn-VA]

Thank you, David.