Piney Branch Stream Valley Park
Managed by Fairfax County Park Authority
140 acres4.5 mi of trail
Skunk Cabbage Trail (Blue Trail)Piney Branch TrailVillage Loop Trail (White Trail)Parkway Loop Trail+1
Dogs allowed
Directionsto the trailhead
Hope Park Mill and Miller's House · Photo: Historic American Buildings Survey · Public domainAOutdoors
Outdoors in Braddock
Braddock has 12 miles of mapped trails, 1.8 for every square mile of land
350 acres are parks and preserves, 54 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Piney Branch Stream Valley Park (4.5 mi). 9% of Braddock’s land is conserved, about 345 acres.
Ahead of 90% of U.S. towns · #38 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
Conserved land
9%
345 acres · of 6.4 sq mi of land
Trails
12 mi
1.8 per sq mi of land
Park land
350 ac
54 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
77%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
8.0 mi
8.0 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Braddock?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Braddock have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Braddock is ahead of 90% of U.S. towns, #38 of 253 in Virginia. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Braddock’s overall grade.
Conserved land9% of the land · typical VA town 4% · U.S. 4%B+Trails1.8 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (12 mi) · VA 0.7 · U.S. 0.4APark land54 acres of park per 1,000 residents (350 acres) · VA 8 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home77% of residents within a half mile of a park · VA 76% · U.S. 72%B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 90%
LessMore
Virginia towns of 2,500+ (253)Ahead of 85%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Piney Branch Stream Valley Park, with 4.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Brentwood Park
Managed by Fairfax County Park Authority
10 acres0.3 mi of trail
Skunk Cabbage Trail (Blue Trail)
Dogs allowed
Directionsto the trailhead
Patriot Park
Managed by Fairfax County Park Authority
121 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Patriot Park North
Managed by Fairfax County Park Authority
67 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Who protects it
345 conserved acres
9% of Braddock’s land. Who manages Braddock’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County329 ac
Not recorded354 ac
Local Park · 674 acConservation Easement · 10 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 13 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piney Branch Stream Valley Park Local Park | Not recorded | 278 | Open |
| Patriot Park Local Park | County | 189 | Open |
| Lincoln Lewis Vannoy Park Local Park | Not recorded | 100 | Open |
| Islamic Foundation of America Local Park | County | 67 | Open |
| Lincoln Lewis Vannoy Local Park | County | 20 | Open |
| Brentwood Park Local Park | Not recorded | 20 | Open |
Things to do
9 places to go in Braddock
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Braddock
9 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
12 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 2.7 miUnpaved · 5.0 mi
Skunk Cabbage Trail (Blue Trail)1.4 mi
Parkway Loop Trail0.8 mi
Piney Branch Trail0.6 mi
Village Loop Trail (White Trail)0.6 mi
Box Turtle Trail (Pink Trail)0.4 mi
Goodwood Trail (Green Trail)0.3 mi
Braddock Trail Loop (Yellow Trail)0.3 mi
Brentwood Farms Trail0.3 mi
Farm Trail0.2 mi
Leehigh Village Pump Station Trail0.1 mi
2 more trails
Holly Trail
0.1 miSkunk Cabbage Cutoff Trail
0.1 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
8.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
8.0 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
10Tennis
7Baseball
6Pickleball
2Basketball
1Football
1Beach volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →1 place on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
Hope Park Mill and Miller's HouseBuilding · listed 1977
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Braddock: April and August
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.6 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 43 | 47 | 55 | 67 | 75 | 83 | 87 | 85 | 79 | 68 | 57 | 47 |
| Rain (in) | 3.0 | 2.6 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 3.1 | 3.5 |
February is the driest month (2.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.4 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Braddock →
Next door
Braddock and its neighbors
Braddock has the most mapped trails of the 5 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braddock | 9% | 1.8 | 54 | 77% | A |
| Union Mill | 7% | 0.4 | 99 | 52% | B+ |
| Fairfax Station | 6% | 0.3 | 31 | 96% | A− |
| George Mason | 4% | 2.6 | 7 | 98% | A− |
| Kings Park West | 13% | 1.9 | 19 | 98% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Braddock
Where can I hike in Braddock?
The longest trail networks: Piney Branch Stream Valley Park, 4.5 miles; Brentwood Park, 0.3 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Braddock is conserved land?
9% of its land, against a typical 4% for a Virginia town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Braddock’s trails?
OpenStreetMap records dogs as welcome at Piney Branch Stream Valley Park and Brentwood Park. For the rest, check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Braddock?
8.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 8.0 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Braddock?
28,593 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Braddock or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 350 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Braddock have?
Ahead of 90% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #38 of 253 in Virginia. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Braddock neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →