Historic Routes - The Crossing Trail
in Virginia · centroid 29 mi from Washington
Follow in the footsteps of thousands of people before you as you hike the Crossing Trail, which partially follows an old roadbed. Initially a path to travel between American Indian villages and hunting grounds, early European settlers widened this road into the Potomac Path, a roadway soldiers travelled in both the Revoluntionary and Civil Wars. Today part of the Washington-Rochambeau Revoluntionary Route National Historic Trail, the trail meanders through the forest following a faint network of old roadways that existed before Prince William Forest Park was created.
- States
- Virginia
- Trail type
- Park trail
- Centroid nearest city
- Washington, DC · 29 mi · ~50 min drive
- Centroid coords
- 38.5604°, -77.3425°
About Prince William Forest Park
This trail is inside Prince William Forest Park, a park managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.
Entrance fee: $20 per vehicle (verify current rate on the park page). An America the Beautiful annual pass ($80) covers entrance to all NPS units.
Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/historic-routes-the-crossing-trail.htm
Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/prwi/index.htm
Plan your hike
Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.
Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.
When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.
If you've hiked Historic Routes - The Crossing Trail and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
Stay nearby
Other trails within 50 miles
Bull Run Occoquan Trail
14 miles from this trail's centroid
Mount Vernon Trail Mile 0
17 miles from this trail's centroid
Information Panel: Welcome to Fort Washington's Waterside Trail
20 miles from this trail's centroid
Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail
20 miles from this trail's centroid
Filene Center Loop picnic area
26 miles from this trail's centroid
Information Panel: The Path to Freedom
26 miles from this trail's centroid
Sources
Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.