The Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (NVRPA) is an interjurisdictional organization that owns and operates more than 10,000 acres of woodlands, streams, parks, trails, nature reserves, countryside and historic sites in Northern Virginia in the United States. The Authority was organized in 1959. The Authority presently operates 21 regional parks.
A 12-member policy-making Board governs NVRPA. The city council or county board of each member jurisdiction appoints two representatives to the Board. Three counties (Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun) and three cities (Alexandria, Falls Church and Fairfax) currently have representation on the Board.
The regional parks and other features administered by the Park Authority include:
From 1984 to 2009, [Hemlock Overlook Regional Park] operated as a partnership between George Mason University and the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority. In 2009, GMU ended its relationship with NVRPA, and the Park Authority welcomed a new partner to operate the facility: Adventure Links.
A challenge course, Hemlock Overlook has worked with 20,000-30,000 people a year, sent nearly half a million people down its zipline, and has had thousands of staff alumni. Hemlock operations over its history included the management of Bull Run Marina and a summer camp (Camp Mason, then Camp Hemlock) on the Hemlock Overlook site. Directors over the 25 years were: Mike Freed, Warren Doyle, and Susan Johnson.
At the northern edge of the park is the site of the Union Mills and the bridge crossing for the Orange and Alexandria Railroad over the Bull Run; both of these sites have high significance in the Battles of Bull Run.
A permanent orienteering course, built with the support of Quantico Orienteering Club, remains in the southern end of the park, below Yates Ford Road and Yates Ford Trail. The Bull Run Occoquan Trail (blue trail) is maintained by the PATC. Both the Occoquan Watershed Coalition and the Hemlock Overlook Regional Park Task Force, HOTFORCE, are stakeholders working with the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority to integrate the Park and its activities into the overall community setting in the downzoned area.
Hemlock Overlook is named after the grove of hemlock trees above the banks of the Bull Run in the northern section of the park. The site of a dam that supported the first hydroelectric power generation to Fairfax County is also on the Hemlock Overlook site. The park continues to serve the crucial role of watershed protection for the area.