Potomac Overlook Regional Park

With Tara and Anna and Julia and Aaron, we needed a place to spend a warm spring day.  The zoo is right out - there's no parking there and it's not good when you only have a couple of hours to spend - certainly it takes over an hour to get to the zoo!  Aaron knew just the place.  He started his journey along the Appalachian Trail from this park just a couple of years ago.

The picnic and playground facilities were nice, and then we headed out to hike.  It would be an easy hike, not much climb, and it would get us out of the house.  The girls and I were varying forms of feeling under the weather, but fresh air does a body good.

We headed down the trail and it was very peaceful.  Sure, there were people there, but it certainly wasn't crawling with people, and had a variety of delightful dogs available for petting and visiting.  The overlook itself is a joke.  Do not go to this park if you want to ooh and aah at the Potomac River.  There are many other places to do that - this has virtually no view of the river.  Don't let that deter you from coming here if you want to enjoy a nice family hike, however!

The nature center is something to behold.  The girls loved the park, more than they even wanted to go to the zoo.  A pond of frogs charms near the community garden, and the nature center building itself is wonderful.  Hands-on exhibits delight children of all ages, and a display of various live snakes manages to be educational and smart and not at all frightening, even for a snake-o-phobe like me.  There is an ampitheater, there are trails that wend through an Indian Circle Garden, and there are so many things to explore.  Small explorers will find hours and hours of things to look at.

If you get tired, there's a service road that's a quick hike back, though you can wend your way on trails for just over 2 miles.

Time spent on trail:  Hard to say.  Overall we spent 3 hours in the park, but much was ooh-ing and aah-ing at things.
Difficulty:  Easy.  There's some uphill climb, but nothing challenging.
Bonuses:  The nature center is delightful, wildlife abundant.
View:  Beautiful trees and light and colors.
Kid friendly:  BRING YOUR CHILDREN HERE.  Do it.  You won't regret it.