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Elklick Woodlands Natural Area Preserve

Fairfax County, Virginia geography stubsIUCN Category VProtected areas of Fairfax County, VirginiaVirginia Natural Area PreservesVirginia protected area stubs

Elklick Woodlands Natural Area Preserve is a 226-acre (91 ha) Natural Area Preserve located in Fairfax County, Virginia. Owned by the Fairfax County Park Authority, it is protected with a local conservation easement, and preserves a globally rare natural community known as a "northern hardpan basic oak-hickory forest". This kind of forest occurs on diabase soil with an underlay of dense plastic clay; such terrain is called "shrink-swell soil" due to extreme variations in moisture availability exhibited throughout the year. Trees which grow in such an environment are stunted, and their relatively open canopies encourage the growth of a wide variety of grasses and herbs in the understory. Such forests were once common around northern Virginia, but many have been lost due to increasing suburbanization of the area.The forest found within Elklick Woodlands Natural Area Preserve is one of the most diverse upland forests types in Virginia. The forest's overstory is composed of several species of oaks (particularly white oak) and hickories (particularly pignut hickory); other canopy trees include white ash, tulip poplar, eastern red cedar, and Virginia pine. These trees are somewhat stunted and reach heights that are, on average, about 20 feet (6.1 m) shorter than typical forest trees in the region. The understory contains redbud, ironwood, flowering dogwood, and hawthorn.The preserve is owned and maintained by the Fairfax County Park Authority. It does not include improvements for public access, and visitors must make arrangements with the Fairfax County Park Authority prior to visiting. The preserve is part of a larger tract of county-owned parkland known as the Elklick Preserve. It is continuous with other county-owned and privately conserved greenspace, as well as the nearby Manassas National Battlefield Park.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Elklick Woodlands Natural Area Preserve (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Elklick Woodlands Natural Area Preserve
Pleasant Valley Road,

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N 38.8593 ° E -77.4973 °
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Pleasant Valley Road

Pleasant Valley Road
20152
Virginia, United States
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First Battle of Bull Run
First Battle of Bull Run

The First Battle of Bull Run, called the Battle of First Manassas by Confederate forces, was the first major battle of the American Civil War. The battle was fought on July 21, 1861, in Prince William County, Virginia, just north of the city of Manassas and about thirty miles west-southwest of Washington, D.C. The Union Army was slow in positioning themselves, allowing Confederate reinforcements time to arrive by rail. Each side had about 18,000 poorly trained and poorly led troops. The battle was a Confederate victory and was followed by a disorganized post-battle retreat of the Union forces. Just months after the start of the war at Fort Sumter, the northern public clamored for a march against the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, which was expected to bring an early end to the Confederacy. Yielding to political pressure, Brigadier General Irvin McDowell led his unseasoned Union Army across Bull Run against the equally inexperienced Confederate Army of Brigadier General P. G. T. Beauregard, whose forces were camped near Manassas Junction. McDowell's ambitious plan for a surprise flank attack on the Confederate left was poorly executed although the Confederates, who had been planning to attack the Union left flank, found themselves at an initial disadvantage. Confederate reinforcements under Brigadier General Joseph E. Johnston arrived from the Shenandoah Valley by railroad, and the course of the battle quickly changed. A brigade of Virginians under a relatively unknown brigadier general from the Virginia Military Institute, Thomas J. Jackson, stood its ground, which resulted in Jackson receiving his famous nickname, "Stonewall". The Confederates launched a strong counterattack, and as the Union troops began withdrawing under fire, many panicked and the retreat turned into a rout. McDowell's men frantically ran without order in the direction of Washington, D.C. Both armies were sobered by the fierce fighting and the many casualties and realized that the war was going to be much longer and bloodier than either had anticipated. The First Battle of Bull Run highlighted many of the problems and deficiencies that were typical of the first year of the war. Units were committed piecemeal, attacks were frontal, infantry failed to protect exposed artillery, tactical intelligence was minimal, and neither commander was able to employ his whole force effectively. McDowell, with 35,000 men, could commit only about 18,000, and the combined Confederate forces, with about 32,000 men, also committed 18,000.

Henry House Hill
Henry House Hill

Henry House Hill is a location near Bull Run in Virginia. Named for the house of the Henry family that sits atop it, the hill begins near the road of Centreville, Virginia, after Gainesville, Virginia, to today's U.S. Route 29, the Warrenton Turnpike. It is a slow, constant rise toward the south over a length of approximately 730 meters. This hill was an important site of the battles of First and Second Bull Run (also known as First and Second Manassas) in the American Civil War. The battle raged on the north side of the hill in predominantly open grass country; the south side was relatively closely covered with trees. The hill received its name from Dr. Isaac Henry, who lived with his family in a house on the plateau of the hill. On July 21, 1861, the house was inhabited by his widow, Judith Carter Henry, and their two sons. The 85-year-old woman was bed-ridden and unable to leave the house. Mrs. Henry was mortally wounded when a projectile of the Union artillery crashed through the bedroom wall and tore off one of her feet and inflicted multiple injuries, from which she died later that day. During the First Battle of Bull Run, Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson and his Confederate soldiers had taken up positions on Henry House Hill. During the battle General Jackson was pushed off of the hill many times by the 14th Brooklyn. The General gave the 14th its famous nickname, "Red Legged Devils" because of their striking red pantaloon trousers. Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell, commander of the Federal forces, had been ordered by Abraham Lincoln to engage a large Rebel force that was led by Brig. Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard in an effort to end the Civil War with one decisive battle. Union soldiers had been ordered up the hill. Under huge amounts of enemy fire the Southerners held back the Federal soldiers with heavy losses. Brig. Gen. Barnard Bee shouted to his men, "There is Jackson standing like a stone wall. Let us determine to die here, and we will conquer. Follow me." That gave Thomas Jackson the famous nickname Stonewall. In the retreat from the hill, a Union wagon tipped over on Cub Run Bridge, blocking the Federal retreat, causing many of the undisciplined volunteers to drop their rifles and run. Henry House Hill is preserved as part of the Manassas National Battlefield Park.