Difficult Run

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This page is about the stream and trail. For the diamond marker denoting a level of skiing difficulty on a ski run, see Skiing

Difficult Run, despite its name, is a stream^[1] located in Northern Virginia, a tributary of the Potomac River, in the United States. The term run, for stream, is common usage in this part of Virginia; another stream is better known in American Civil War History: Bull Run. Difficult Run flows through Fairfax County, Virginia to the Great Falls Park, on the Virginia side of the Potomac River. The Run has been characterized as "a miniature Mather Gorge and Great Falls"^[2]. In the Great Falls area the run is relatively flat and wide at the top of the trail with calm waters, like the Potomac River above Great Falls. The stream picks up speed as it narrows into a steep gorge with waterfalls and quickly reaches the same level as the Potomac. At the mouth of Difficult Run, one can see a panoramic view of the Potomac River.

[edit] Watershed

The Difficult Run watershed is the largest in Fairfax County at 37,179 acres (150.46 km²). ^[3] The following subwatersheds:

Captain Hickory Run
Piney Run
Colvin Run
Snakeden Branch
Little Difficult Run
Rocky Run
Angelico Branch
Piney Branch
Wolftrap Creek
Rocky Branch
Lower Difficult Run
Sharpers Run
Middle Difficlt Run
Upper Difficult Run
South Fork Run
The Glade
Old Courthouse Spring Branch
Dog Run

make up the Diffiult Run Watershed.^[4].

[edit] Parks & Trails

Using community planning, a secluded twelve-mile (19 km) hiking and biking trail was built along Difficult Run, through Reston, Virginia to Great Falls Park. The trail is well-known among area mountain biking enthusiasts for its rolling terrain which makes for fast, smooth rides although there are portions requiring technical skills. The portion of the trail that sees the most mountain biking activity starts near the end of Michael Faraday Court, behind the Reston Ice Rink and follows the tributary stream valley to Lake Fairfax. From Lake Fairfax the trail then crosses over Hunter Mill Road and follows Difficult Run itself all the way to Great Falls Park. Great Falls Park is a unit of the George Washington Memorial Parkway, and is administered by the National Park Service. In addition, almost the entire length of Difficult Run is paralleled by the Cross County Trail^[5], which is maintained by the Fairfax County Park Authority for continuous coverage along the Run ^[6].