Lake Accotink - Springfield, Virginia

Robin

I’ve always gone to the close by Burke Lake, but I never knew Lake Accotink was so close as well! I was pleasantly surprised by how beautiful the area was, with an old railroad trestle and a sandy beach with a boardwalk style carousel and rentable pedal boats. The fishing was plentiful and the trail was well maintained and an enjoyable walk. The weir/dam was also really cool to see. Would highly recommend for an afternoon stroll or picnic with or without kids.

Obaidullah Noori

Beautiful lake for picnic, got place to sit and some amusement park. Got boats too. Big parking before main park. Close at 9PM. The dam itself isn't in very good condition and may smell during hot temperatures

Jake Davison

Wonderful park with great scenery. The parking lot can fill up on special holidays/weekends though. Has a great trail loop that is about 3.5-4 miles BUT it can be hard to navigate the first time. It dumps you out in the middle of a neighborhood. Just keep straight up the hill and a school will be on your left. Keep going all the way down the hill and the trail picks up again at the bottom.

You might want to use All Trails navigation, as.therr are a couple other spots where you won't be sure which way to turn.

Lots of shade though for the trail loop and it's a wide path, so you won't feel like bikers are on top of you.

Highly recommend.

Catherine L Mommsen

The park itself is small but has a nice view of the lake. Nice outdoor sheltered facilities for groups. The trail around the lake was itself uninspiring. A section of it goes through a residential area and is not well marked. For me, the better choice for a hike is to start at Wakefield park, walk to the Lake Accotink Marina, maybe have a light picnic lunch and then go back the same way. A more interesting time, in my view. Two cautions: 1. don’t go off the trail. I got a severe case of poison ivy just stepping to the side to let cyclists pass. 2.The trail can flood and be quite muddy (and the muddy water hides the poison ivy.).

Jeremy Lamb

Nice trails, including some hidden gems up by the railroad tracks. Great for walking or mountain biking. It can be crowded on the weekends, so I mostly stick to weekdays.

Thuy Tran

This park was so close to my house that I come here often , even on a weekend you still can find some picnic table and grill. They also have an ice cream truck in the afternoon if you would like some refresh after a trailwalk. Love this place !!!

Jennifer Coyne

When making plans to come here with my three kids on a Sunday morning in December, I was unaware the playground had been updated. It was a very pleasant surprise when we arrived. At ten am on a mild December day, there was only one other family there and for a good period of time we had the place to ourselves. When we left around noon, it was a popular spot for other families.

In regards to the new equipment, I was thrilled to see what had replaced the older playground. My kids are ages 4, 7, and 11. The swingset has two traditional swings, one toddler swing, and one of the newer toddler/parent type swings. There are some game type pieces, and musical equipment, plus a little house/store area. The bigger equipment contains a very large curly tunnel slide and one of those rope climbing structures. There is no smaller tot lot type slides or climbing structures. My older two loved the slide and my 4 year old tried it with them eventually, even though she had reservations. It is totally dark at the top since it is enclosed and fairly long. I'm a big fan of the rope climbing structures for a wider age range, not to mention parent visibility if there are any issues. My 11 year old didn't immediately comment about being bored and spent a lot of time climbing around before our friends joined us. I appreciate playgrounds that engage the older kids like that.

One thing I hadn't seen before was the use of light on a playground. There are a few tall pieces with translucent colored panels that filter the light through to the ground when the sun shines through them. One of them will spin if a child turns it. I appreciate this extra dimension to engage the kids on a new level.

Since it is winter the closer bathroom and water fountains are closed. The bathroom above the playground is still open, but the water fountains up there are also off.

Before we went home, we stopped on the beach to admire all the birds. Geese are common there, but there were also sea gulls and two other types of birds that seemed possibly swan like and perhaps cormorants. The area to the left of the dock is full of trash, as per usual.

Robert C

This was my first visit to this park. Beautiful views, nice trails and a fun park with a merry-go-round for the kids! There is a small waterfall feature and a elevated train bridge right next to the park for those that love seeing and hearing the trains up close. The pavilions were clean and nicely maintained and all together the park is a nice place to have a peaceful outing.