Day Hike, Royal Lake, Fairfax, VA

This easy 1,8 mile loop hike took place on Tuesday, February 25, 2025. It was just me on this one.

I met my sister Terry Green at 12 noon at the

Swiss Bakery and Pastry Shop

in Springfield, VA. We each had a snack and a mocha coffee and talked about this and that. Nice place. After about an hour we said our goodbyes and I proceeded about 11 miles away to Lakeside Park in Fairfax, VA.

I started this hike around 1:30 PM. This park is on the northeast side of Royal Lake. It shares the trail around this lake with Royal Lake Park on the southeast side of this lake. Royal Lake is shaped like the letter “J”. The trail itself was very easy. It was comprised of some asphalt sections, some gravel sections and some dirt sections (which may have been gravel at one point). There are some very nice houses surrounding the lake.

The trail was marked by short posts that had yellow marks on them. The trail bed itslf was in good shape. There were a few wet spots at around the 1.5 mile mark. But other than that, no issues. At around the 1.65 mile mark one has the choice of walking along the top of the dam for this lake or taking a trail at the south bottom of the dam. I would recommend using the

AllTrails app

on this trail as there are a bunch of side trails near the dam making it easy to get lost. AllTrails saved me twice!

There were a lot of people of all ages hiking on this trail today. I was either passed or passed by at least 25 people. I finished this hike around 2:20 PM. Not bad time. Temps were in the 60’s and it was a slightly cloudy day. But it was a pleasure to hike in. This trail was a great leg stretcher. I got home by around 3:00 PM.

Fairfax County has a number of small lakes that that were built between the 1970’s and the 1990’s either for flood control purposes or for an added amenity for housing developments. Rather than list them all I will list a link for them below. I have hiked most of them and think they were all a great hike. Spring is upon us. So get out and hike some of these nice hikes around lakes.

Mike C

Parks with Small Lakes in Fairfax County, VA

Map of where I hiked today