Four Mile Run is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed August 15, 2011

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several County (United States), counties and independent city (United States), independent cities in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. ...

that starts near

Interstate 66 Interstate 66 (I-66) is a 76.32 mile east–west Interstate Highway in the East Coast of the United States, eastern United States. The highway runs from an interchange with Interstate 81 in Virginia, I-81 near Middletown, Virginia, on its w ...

, at Gordon Avenue in Fairfax County and proceeds southeast through

Falls Church Falls Church City is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is part of both Northern Virginia and the Washington metropolitan area. As of 2020, it has ...

to Arlington County in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. Most of the stretch is

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

land and is paralleled by two paved non-motorized transport and recreational trails, the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Trail and the

Four Mile Run Trail The Four Mile Run Trail is a 7-mile long, paved shared use path in Arlington County and Falls Church. It runs along Four Mile Run from Benjamin Banneker Park in Falls Church to the Mount Vernon Trail near Ronald Reagan Washington Nationa ...

. In Arlington, the stream passes from the

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

through the

Fall Line A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is noticeable especially the place rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the ...

to the

Atlantic Coastal Plain The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

in a deep forested valley. The stream's eastern section forms the boundary of Arlington County and the City of Alexandria. The stream eventually empties into the

Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

immediately south of

Reagan National Airport Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is a public airport in Arlington County, Virginia, United States, from Washington, D.C. The closest airport to the nation's capital, it is one of two airports owned by the federal government and ope ...

. The name Four Mile Run does not derive from its length. A 2001 documentary film alleged that the name resulted from a misreading of an old map. The documentary stated that an old flour mill near the Potomac gave the stream the name of "Flour Mill Run", but the map had faded letters. A more plausible explanation is that the mouth of Four Mile Run is approximately four miles upriver from the mouth of Hunting Creek (sometimes called Great Hunting Creek) which is formed by the confluence of Cameron Run and Hooff's Run where they join the Potomac on the southern boundary of the City of Alexandria. Four Mile Run runs into the tidal Four Mile Creek within 1 mile (2 km) of the mouth of the stream.

Course

Columbia_Pike_Four_Mile_Run_crossing_2017b

Four Mile Run begins in the vicinity of Gordon Avenue in Fairfax County. It quickly passes into Arlington County, where its uppermost course is a mix of open stream and two

culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe (fluid conveyance), pipe, reinforced concrete or other materia ...

s that take it underneath

and a residential neighborhood in East Falls Church. The stream briefly enters the City of Falls Church before reentering Arlington. At this point, the Washington & Old Dominion Trail begins to parallel the stream as it passes through a series of local parks: Isaac Crossman Park, Benjamin Banneker Park, East Falls Church Park, and Madison Manor Park. At Madison Manor Park, the older

diverges from the Washington & Old Dominion Trail; they are usually on opposite sides of the stream from this point downstream. The stream then runs immediately parallel to Interstate 66 for a time before diverging from the freeway at Bon Air Park. South of Bon Air Park, the stream descends into a deep, narrow wooded

gorge A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tend ...

. The streamcourse is part of Bluemont Park and then Glencarlyn Park, where it crosses

Arlington Boulevard Arlington Boulevard is a major arterial road in Arlington County, Virginia, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Virginia, Fairfax County, and the independent Fairfax, Virginia, City of Fairfax in Northern Virginia in metropolitan Washington, DC, Un ...

(U.S. 50). The stream exits the gorge into flatter terrain just south of the Columbia Pike crossing. The stream then flows through Barcroft Park, Shirlington Park, and then between Jennie Dean Park and the

Shirlington Shirlington is an unincorporated urban area, officially called an "urban village", in the southern part of Arlington County, Virginia, United States, adjacent to the Fairlington area. The word "Shirlington" is a combination of "Shirley" (fr ...

business district. At Shirlington, the Washington & Old Dominion Trail ends as the Four Mile Run Trail continues above the stream's north bank as the waterway becomes the boundary between Arlington and

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

. Downstream of Shirlington, the stream is channelized as a

flood control Flood management or flood control are methods used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters. Flooding can be caused by a mix of both natural processes, such as extreme weather upstream, and human changes to waterbodies and ru ...

measure, although restoration efforts are ongoing. The stream crosses under Interstate 395, and then becomes tidal in the vicinity of the Mt. Vernon Avenue crossing, whereupon its name changes to Four Mile Creek. The creek flows through Four Mile Run Park, and then underneath Richmond Highway (U.S. 1), the WMATA

Yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...

and Blue Lines, and the

George Washington Memorial Parkway The George Washington Memorial Parkway, colloquially the G.W. Parkway, is a limited-access road, limited-access parkway that runs along the south bank of the Potomac River from Mount Vernon, Virginia, northwest to McLean, Virginia, and is maint ...

before reaching its mouth at the

at the south end of

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is a public airport in Arlington County, Virginia, United States, from Washington, D.C. The closest airport to the nation's capital, it is one of two airports owned by the federal government and ope ...

History

During the colonial period and the 19th century, several

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

s existed in and near the

fall line A fall line (or fall zone) is the area where an upland region and a coastal plain meet and is noticeable especially the place rivers cross it, with resulting rapids or waterfalls. The uplands are relatively hard crystalline basement rock, and the ...

of the stream. Although none of these mills remain intact, the foundation of one is still in place (Arlington Mill constructed in 1836; later rebuilt as Barcroft Mill in 1880 after being destroyed by Union Army troops during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

). The mill provided locals with flour ground from corn and wheat that was grown locally and shipped up the stream on flatboats. Located west of the stream between Columbia Pike and 10th Street South in Arlington, the foundation presently supports an automobile repair shop. General

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

owned on the southwest side of the stream in the fall line a large parcel of wooded property which he surveyed in 1785, several years after the Revolutionary War ended. As part of this survey, Washington made a cut in the trunk of an

oak tree An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the Fagaceae, beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northe ...

to mark a corner of his property where a tributary (Long Branch (upper)) entered the main stream. A portion of this trunk remains preserved in a neighborhood library (Glencarlyn Library), while a columnar monument marks the tree's original location. From about 1860 to 1968, the

Washington and Old Dominion Railroad The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad (colloquially referred to as the W&OD) was an intrastate short-line railroad located in Northern Virginia, United States. The rail transport, railroad was a successor to the bankruptcy, bankrupt Washingt ...

and its predecessors traveled along most of the stream's length in Arlington. The Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority's Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Trail now travels along the stream on the former railroad's route. In the late 19th century, a small resort at Carlin Springs became a favorite respite for Washingtonians who would ride the train out for bathing and dancing. Carlin Springs was located within the present day Glencarlyn Park, along Four Mile Run, and surrounding Glencarlyn Neighborhood. From 1906 to 1915, the

Luna Park Luna Park is a name shared by dozens of currently operating and defunct amusement parks. They are named after, and partly based on, the first Luna Park (Coney Island, 1903), Luna Park, which opened in 1903 during the heyday of large Coney Islan ...

amusement complex operated on the banks of Four Mile Run near its

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

with the Potomac. According to publicity, it was an "architecture fashion plate," featuring ballrooms, restaurants, roller coasters, shoot-the-chutes, circus performances, and exhilarating rides. Early residents frequently cooled off in the deeper pools of Four Mile Run, even though the water must have been polluted by sewage. Not until the 1930s did the county build a centralized sewage system, with a treatment plant on the site of the old Luna Park. In June 1972, rains from

Hurricane Agnes Hurricane Agnes was the List of costliest Atlantic hurricanes, costliest hurricane to hit the United States at the time, causing an estimated $2.1 billion in damage. The hurricane's death toll was 128. The effects of Agnes were widespread, ...

caused the stream to overflow its banks, producing extensive flooding which was especially severe in a populated area on the coastal plain. As a result of this event, the Army Corps of Engineers channelized the stream in this and other areas, covering the stream's natural banks with

riprap Riprap (in North American English), also known as rip rap, rip-rap, shot rock, rock armour (in British English) or rubble, is human-placed rock or other material used to protect shoreline structures against scour and water, wave, or ice erosion. ...

Crossings

Tributaries

Tributaries are listed in order from the source of Four Mile Run to its mouth.

Parks

File:Flowers of Four Mile Run 2020j.jpg, Wildflowers along the lower stretches of Four Mile Run File:Flowers of Four Mile Run 2020h.jpg, Wildflowers along the lower stretches of Four Mile Run File:Flowers of Four Mile Run 2020e.jpg, Wildflowers along the lower stretches of Four Mile Run File:Deer of Four Mile Run 2020d.jpg, A deer of Four Mile Run The parks through or adjacent to which Four Mile Run flows, from the source of the stream to its mouth, are: *

Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park is a linear regional park in Northern Virginia. The park's primary feature is the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Trail (abbreviated as W&OD Trail), an asphalt-surfaced paved rail tra ...

, Arlington *Crossman Park, Falls Church *Benjamin Banneker Park, Arlington *Madison Manor Park, Arlington *, Arlington * Bluemont Junction Park, Arlington *, Arlington *Glencarlyn Park, Arlington * Barcroft Park, Arlington *Shirlington Park, Arlington *Jennie Dean Park, Arlington * Four Mile Run Park, Alexandria *

(national park), Arlington and Alexandria

Trails

The paved trails that travel near Four Mile Run are: *

Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Trail The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park is a linear regional park in Northern Virginia. The park's primary feature is the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Trail (abbreviated as W&OD Trail), an Asphalt concrete, asphalt-surfac ...

, Arlington *

, Arlington *Wayne F. Anderson Bikeway, Arlington and Alexandria ''In'' "Arlington and Alexandria section ''of'' *

Mount Vernon Trail The Mount Vernon Trail (MVT) is an long shared use path that travels along the George Washington Memorial Parkway in Northern Virginia between Rosslyn and George Washington's home at Mount Vernon. The trail connects the easternmost portions of ...

Bluemont Junction Trail The Bluemont Junction Trail is a asphalt-paved rail trail in Arlington County, Virginia, United States, that the Arlington County government constructed along a former branch of the defunct Washington and Old Dominion Railroad. The shared use p ...

, Arlington (Linear

rail trail A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corr ...

connecting Ballston and Fields Park to Bluemont Park that runs perpendicular to Four Mile Run) *

Custis Trail The Custis Trail is a hilly -long shared use path in Arlington County, Virginia. The asphalt-paved trail travels along Interstate 66 (I-66) between Rosslyn and the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Trail (W&OD Trail) at Bon Air Park.Route ...

(along

I-66 Interstate 66 (I-66) is a 76.32 mile east–west Interstate Highway in the East Coast of the United States, eastern United States. The highway runs from an interchange with Interstate 81 in Virginia, I-81 near Middletown, Virginia, on its w ...

), Arlington It is possible to bicycle or hike a triangle route that passes along all three of these trails.

Notes

References

* Rose. C.B., Jr., Arlington County, Virginia: a history; Arlington Historical Society, Arlington, VA, 1976 * Glencarlyn Remembered: The First 100 Years; Glencarlyn Citizens Association, Arlington, VA, 1994

External links

City of Alexandria, Four Mile Run Restoration Project

Northern Virginia Watershed Wiki
{{authority control Rivers of Virginia Rivers of Fairfax County, Virginia Falls Church, Virginia Rivers of Arlington County, Virginia Tributaries of the Potomac River Rivers of Alexandria, Virginia