Four Mile Run

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Four Mile Run is a stream in Northern Virginia that proceeds from Fairfax County southeast through Falls Church to Arlington County. Most of the stretch is parkland and is paralleled by two paved recreational trails, the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Trail and the Four Mile Run Trail.

While in Arlington, the stream passes from the Piedmont through the fall line to the Atlantic Coastal Plain in a deep wooded valley. The stream's eastern section forms the boundary of Arlington County and the City of Alexandria. The stream eventually empties out into the Potomac River immediately south of National Airport.

The name "Four Mile Run" reflects the distance upstream along the Potomac River shoreline from the mouth of Hunting Creek south of Alexandria to the mouth of the stream. "Four Mile Run" runs into the tidal "Four Mile Creek" within a mile of the mouth of the stream.

Contents

[edit] History

During the colonial period and the 1800's, several watermills existed in and near the fall line of the stream. Although none of these mills remain intact, the foundation of one is still in place (Arlington Mill; later rebuilt as Barcroft Mill after being destroyed by Union Army troops during the Civil War). Located west of the stream between Columbia Pike and 10th Street South in Arlington, the foundation presently supports an automobile repair shop.

General George Washington owned on the south side of the stream in the fall line a large parcel of wooded property which he surveyed several years after the Revolutionary War ended. As part of this survey, he made a cut in the trunk of an oak tree to mark a corner of his property where a tributary (Long Branch (upper)) entered the main stream. A portion of this trunk remains preserved in a neighborhood library (Glencarlyn Library), while a columnar monument marks the tree's original location.

From about 1860 to 1968, the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad and its predecessors traveled along most of the stream's length in Arlington. The Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority's Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Trail now travels along the stream on the former railroad's route.

In 1972, rains from Hurricane Agnes caused the stream to overflow its banks, producing extensive flooding which was especially severe in a populated area on the coastal plain. As a result of this event, the Army Corps of Engineers channelized the stream in this and other areas, covering the stream's natural banks with rip-rap.

[edit] Tributaries

The major tributaries of Four Mile Run, from upstream to downstream, are:

  • Lubber Run (enters northeast side of stream)
  • Long Branch (upper) (enters southwest side of stream)
  • Doctors Run (enters northeast side of stream)
  • Lucky Run (enters southwest side of stream)
  • Long Branch (lower) (enters north side of stream)

[edit] Parks

The parks through or adjacent to which Four Mile Run flows, from upstream to downstream, are:

[edit] Trails

The paved trails that travel near Four Mile Run are:

Connecting trails are:

It is possible to bicycle or hike a triangle route that passes along all three of these trails.

[edit] References

  • Rose. C.B., Jr., Arlington County, Virginia: a history; Arlington Historical Society, Arlington, VA, 1976
  • Glencarlyn Remembered: The First 100 Years; Glencarlyn Citizens Association, Arlington, VA, 1994



Potomac River system
Cities and towns | Bridges | Islands | Variant names
Regions
Allegheny Front | Allegheny Mountains | Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area | Blue Ridge Mountains | Cumberland Valley | Eastern Panhandle | Northern Neck | Northern Virginia | Potomac Highlands | Ridge-and-valley Appalachians | Shenandoah Valley | Southern Maryland | Western Maryland
Tributaries
North Branch | Stony River | Abram Creek | Savage River | Georges Creek | Wills Creek | Evitts Creek | Patterson Creek | South Branch | North Fork South Branch | South Fork South Branch | Town Creek | Little Cacapon River | Fifteenmile Creek | Sideling Hill Creek | Cacapon River | Lost River | North River (West Virginia) | Tonoloway Creek | Sleepy Creek | Licking Creek | Back Creek | Little Conococheague Creek | Conococheague Creek | Opequon Creek | Antietam Creek | Shenandoah River | North Fork Shenandoah River | South Fork Shenandoah River | North River (Virginia) | South River | Catoctin Creek (Maryland) | Catoctin Creek (Virginia) | Monocacy River | Little Monocacy River | Goose Creek | Little River | Seneca Creek | Cabin John Creek | Rock Creek | Anacostia River | Sligo Creek | Four Mile Run | Oxon Creek | Hunting Creek | Piscataway Creek | Dogue Creek | Accotink Creek | Pohick Creek | Occoquan River | Bull Run | Neabsco Creek | Mattawoman Creek | Quantico Creek | Chopawamsic Creek | Aquia Creek | Potomac Creek | Nanjemoy Creek | Port Tobacco River | Wicomico River | Coan River | St. Marys River | Yeocomico River | Hull Creek
Lakes and reservoirs
Lake Accotink | Lake Anne | Lake Artemesia | Lake Bernard Frank | Lake Braddock | Breckenridge Reservoir | Brushy Fork Lake | Burke Lake | Dalecarlia Reservoir | Georgetown Reservoir | Jennings Randolph Lake | Kingman Lake | McMillan Reservoir | Mount Storm Lake | Lake Needwood | Sleepy Creek Lake | Stony River Reservoir | Trout Pond | Warden Lake
Dependent states
District of Columbia | Maryland | Pennsylvania | Virginia | West Virginia
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