Willow Pond Park
Managed by Fairfax County Park Authority
32 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Ser Amantio di Nicolao · CC BY-SA 4.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Fair Lakes
11% of Fair Lakes’ land is conserved, and virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 11% of Fair Lakes’ land is conserved, about 172 acres. 175 acres are parks and preserves, 20 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 86% of U.S. towns · #55 of 253 in Virginia. What drives it
Conserved land
11%
172 acres · of 2.4 sq mi of land
Trails
0.9 mi
0.4 per sq mi of land
Park land
175 ac
20 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
4.7 mi
0.1 mi lanes · 4.6 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Fair Lakes?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Fair Lakes have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Fair Lakes is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #55 of 253 in Virginia. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of residents near a park ranks highest, trail miles lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Fair Lakes’ overall grade.
Conserved land11% of the land · typical VA town 4% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.4 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (1 mi) · VA 0.7 · U.S. 0.4BPark land20 acres of park per 1,000 residents (175 acres) · VA 8 · U.S. 13BParks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · VA 76% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 86%
LessMore
Virginia towns of 2,500+ (253)Ahead of 79%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Little Rocky Run Stream Valley Park
Managed by Fairfax County Park Authority
29 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Private Neighborhood Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
172 conserved acres
11% of Fair Lakes’ land. Who manages Fair Lakes’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County172 ac
Not recorded114 ac
Local Park · 286 ac
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Ox Road Park Local Park | County | 166 | Open |
| Willow Pond Local Park | County | 53 | Open |
| Autumn Willow Drive Local Park | County | 37 | Open |
| Rocky Run Stream Valley Park Local Park | County | 30 | Open |
Things to do
7 places to go in Fair Lakes
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Fair Lakes
6 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Fair Lakes
1 dog park without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
4.7 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.1 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
4.6 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
9Tennis
6Basketball
3Soccer
1Volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Fair Lakes: 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 | 46 | 55 | 66 | 74 | 83 | 87 | 85 | 79 | 67 | 56 | 47 |
| Rain (in) | 3.0 | 2.6 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 3.1 | 3.5 |
February is the driest month (2.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.3 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Fair Lakes →
Next door
Fair Lakes and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair Lakes | 11% | 0.4 | 20 | 99%+ | A |
| Fair Oaks | 4% | 0.6 | 4 | 99%+ | B+ |
| Greenbriar | 13% | 0.8 | 15 | 99%+ | A |
| Centreville | 12% | 1.2 | 13 | 97% | A |
| Union Mill | 7% | 0.4 | 99 | 52% | B+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Fair Lakes
How much of Fair Lakes is conserved land?
11% 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 Fair Lakes’ trails?
Willow Pond Park and Little Rocky Run Stream Valley Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Fair Lakes?
4.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.1 of painted or protected lanes and 4.6 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Fair Lakes?
24,150 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Fair Lakes or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 175 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Fair Lakes have?
Ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #55 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 Fair Lakes 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 →