Hiking Trails

Gunston Hall’s trails are accessible with a grounds pass. You will find them well marked with individually colored blazes painted on trees and posts. All are best experienced with hats, sunscreen, closed-toed shoes, long socks and pants, and insect repellant. Be sure to do a “tick check” when you return home and follow the CDC guidelines for tick prevention and, if found, removal.

Also, keep an eye out for other wildlife, especially as you walk near the fields. Deer, geese, eagles, turkeys, snakes, foxes, and groundhogs all call these areas home.

When walking with your dog, be sure to be courteous to others by keeping them on leash.

Finally, all trails are pack in, pack out.  Please take all of your trash out with you.

Bluebird Trail

Length: 0.9 mi

Elevation Gain: 16 ft

Route Type: Point-to-point

Start: Walk down the lane to the mansion.  Then turn right and follow the lane about 100 yards until you see a sign in the field on the right marking the trail start. 

Blaze: Follow the bluebird boxes

Description:
This 0.9 mile-long bluebird trail connects several dozen bluebird nesting boxes sited along the edge of our forested landscape. The hike is flat and easy, making it ideal for adults or families with mobile children or dogs.

Bluff Trail

Length: 0.6 mi

Elevation Gain: 33 ft

Route Type: Out & back

Start: From the parking lot, face the visitor center and look left. The sign for the Bluff Trail is visible at the end of the fence that lines the road.  

Blaze: Yellow

Description:
This 0.6 mile long forest trail ends at a bluff overlooking Gunston Cove, an inlet of the Potomac River, at the confluence of Accotink Creek and Pohick Creek. Enjoy the cool shade provided by paw paw trees, a fruit native to North America! This ravine hike is appropriate for adults or families with older children or dogs.

River Trail

Length: 1.7

Elevation Gain: 144 ft

Route Type: Out & Back

Start: Walk down the lane to the mansion.  Then turn right and follow the lane until you see the trail sign on the left.  It is located just beyond the old ramp made of grass-covered dirt and stones. 

Blaze: Orange, until it intersects with the Deer Park Trail, then Yellow

Description:
This 1.7 mile long forest trail begins on an 18th-century road bed and continues into the lush forest covering the edge of Mason Neck. It ends with a steep descent to a rock-studded Potomac River beach and a pleasing view of Maryland. This moderate hike is good for adults or families with older children or dogs.

Tell us about it:

Did you like your hike? Tell us about it! Or, share a picture memory with the hashtag #GorgeousGunston. Was something amiss? Or is there an obstruction? We’d like to hear about it. Email us at [email protected].

River Trail

Would you rather listen than read?  Click on the audio file below.

This trail begins near the ruins of the stable to the right of Gunston Hall mansion. As you proceed towards the treeline, down the bluff, and across the meadow, you will enter what was once a fenced deer park. Beyond the enclosure were once sections of forest bordered by fields of cash crops. Today you will walk through woods that teem with  a variety of animals, including lizards, snakes, frogs, eagles, and herons.  The ecosystem is enriched by a wetland to the left of the trail. Finally, you will reach an overlook and a path down to the Potomac River.

Mason Neck is formed by Gunston Cove to the north, the Potomac River to the east, Occoquan Bay and Belmont Bay to the west, and the Occoquan River to the northwest. While today these waterways make Mason Neck a popular recreation spot, in the 18th century, they served as critical connections to ports like Colchester (where today’s Route 1 crosses the Occoquan River) and Alexandria.

During the Mason period, the Potomac river united–rather than divided–Maryland and Virginia. Like many well-to-do families in the region, the Masons owned plantations on both sides of the river. When you reach the end of the trail and look across the Potomac River, you will see a ridge. That Maryland land was once part of the Mason family holdings.

To connect their properties together, generations of Masons purchased boats and probably assigned enslaved watermen to operate the craft as ferries. These ferrymen helped transport raw materials such as corn, wheat, and lumber to market. They moved the sandstone that decorates Gunston Hall from a quarry near Quantico, and they delivered consumer goods such as fancy textiles, furniture, and ceramics from port towns. They also carried travelers on foot, and even animals and vehicles. Using the river was not without risk. When George Mason was nine years old, his father drowned while using the river to travel between the family’s estates.

The river was so important to George Mason and his neighbors that they wanted to create laws related to tolls and travel along the Potomac. Plus, Mason and his friends were confident that although it was hard to navigate west of today’s Great Falls, the Potomac could surely be improved to carry boats into undeveloped territory and economic opportunity. In 1775, at the request of George Washington, Mason wrote the Potomac River Bill for the Maryland and Virginia legislatures. As Mason put it, the Potomac was “a channel of the extensive trade of a rising empire.”

What will you learn about next?

Do you need a refresher on where you are on the property?  Access the grounds map here.

Garden Gate

Would you rather listen than read?  Click on the audio file below.

At first glance, you might barely notice the gate. Take a moment to appreciate its ornate design, iron strap hinges, and large padlock. Look carefully at the stout fence on either side of this portal. Together, these elements frame the entrance to this re-creation of the Masons’ garden. These imposing barriers had both aesthetic value and practical functions. 

People in the 18th century cared a lot about wealth and status.Only well-to-do planters could afford this kind of gate and fence.  The big iron hinges, decorative arrangement of boards, and elegant pieces at the top all turn this gate from a purely functional break in the fence to a fashionable ornament on the landscape. The smooth painted wooden boards of the fence continue the impression of richness and style.    

Elsewhere on the landscape—in the less prominent parts of Gunston Hall plantation and on the land of less wealthy farmers, fences were much more plain.  Split rails and woven saplings cost less and were often easier to turn into a fence. Since 18th-century Virginians let their cows, sheep, and pigs run free on their property, farmers and plantation owners used fences and other physical barriers to protect their vegetables, fruit, and flowers.  In addition, fences kept out common pests like rabbits and deer. 

Together, the garden fence and gate offered ways to control which people went into the garden, reinforcing the social hierarchy of the day. Only members of the Mason family and their visitors had the privilege of free access into the garden. Most paid servants and enslaved workers entered this space only when they were required  to tend to the crops and ornamentals. Once inside the garden, people were in an oasis of beauty. Plus, the fence shielded garden visitors from the labor in the kitchen yard, barns, and other workspaces.

What will you learn about next?

Bluff Trail

As you descend into the quiet ravine, sheltered by tall trees and a soft leafy floor, let your thoughts travel far, far back in time. This small peninsula jutting out into the Potomac River is part of a huge watershed that supports a lush landscape, fresh water, abundant animals, and as a result, people. It has seldom been empty of human inhabitants.

More than 11,000 years ago hunter-gatherer groups criss-crossed the modest hills, leaving behind spent arrows and stone knives. They eventually formed permanent settlements in the region 2,750 years ago. By the time Europeans arrived, the area was dominated by a tribe that called itself the “Moyumpse” or “Meompses.” Rival tribes disrespectfully labeled them the “Doeg” people. The name stuck among the invaders, since it was adopted by explorers, such as the 17th-century Captain John Smith.  Europeans’ records used several alternate spellings, including “Dogue” and “Dog.” 

The local people fished in the river and streams and farmed the mineral-rich hills, cultivating beans, corn, and squash.  They, like members of other neighboring tribes, also, raised tobacco to use for pleasure and ritual purposes.  

The Moyumpse were used to navigating complicated political situations. Once a part of Powhatan’s confederacy to the south, by the early 1600s they were more closely aligned with the Iroquois further north. Alliances provided protection during times of conflict and trading partners in peace. 

Power structures started to change once Europeans settled in the area. As colonial land use intensified along the tidewater, the Moyumpse and English peoples competed over limited resources.  The infusion of new people and attitudes strained existing tribal relationships. Violence broke out as alliances formed and dissolved among the Moyumpse, Piscataway, Pamunkey, and Rappahanock peoples who lived in the region, Seneca and Iroquois people who traveled through on regular hunting trips, and English settlers eager for ever more land.

As these competing Indian tribes and European settlers vied for control over the most valuable territory, George Mason’s great-grandfather, grandfather, and father, in turn envisioned a Virginia settled by Englishmen. Over three generations, they actively pushed  native peoples out of this area and ever further westward, claiming the lucrative, river- and bay-front property for themselves. 

Archaeological remnants of structures near this trail indicate that Europeans started living on this peninsula by the 1690s. Documentary evidence indicates there were violent attacks on both sides for at least fifteen more years. By George Mason’s lifetime, the Moyumpse Indian lands had long since been taken over by white settlers.  

With its excellent water access, high ground, and acres of forests, the land that became Gunston Hall remained a productive prize. After their marriage, Ann Eilbeck Mason and George Mason chose to make this place, of all the properties they owned, their home.

What will you learn about next?

Do you need a refresher on where you are on the property?  Access the grounds map here.

Bluebird Trail

Would you rather listen than read?  Click on the audio file below.

Gunston Hall’s bluebird trail is a 2.5 mile hike that follows the edge of the forested landscape, connecting the parking lot to the pastures, burial ground, and the deer park. 

From early April through mid-August, visitors can enjoy watching the lifecycle of the eastern bluebird. Hikers should look out for the brilliant blue coat and rusty red throat of male bluebirds and the gray blue coat and buff-breast of their female mates. 

More than a dozen modern roosting boxes mimic the abandoned woodpecker-made tree cavities bluebirds prefer in the wild. Each box may host as many as three clutches of eggs in one season! Knowledgeable volunteers monitor these active nesting sites and help make sure their avian residents are healthy and happy. Please don’t be tempted to touch or disturb the bluebird boxes. 

Gunston Hall’s 18th-century residents were familiar with the eastern bluebird, which was known for both its looks and its song. George Mason kept a variety of native animals in his household for amusement and study, including live opossums and a mockingbird. Perhaps he also studied the eastern bluebird.

This flat, easy hike is ideal for adults or families with mobile children and is best experienced with hats, sunscreen, closed-toed shoes, long socks and pants, and tick-rated bug repellent. 

Keep an eye out for other wildlife, especially as you walk near the fields. Deer, geese, turkeys, foxes, groundhogs and even eagles call these area home.

What will you learn about next?

Do you need a refresher on where you are on the property?  Access the grounds map here.

Riverside Garden Restoration

Come see how our garden grows. 

The garden’s historic structure is now visible.  Guests may climb the mansion’s exterior side stairs to peek over the fence.  Even better views of the garden are available during tours of the mansion itself.  Guests may look through the windows to see the garden’s broad pathways and the four planting beds.  The garden is surrounded by what John Mason called a “high, paled fence.”  This 18th-century style design has tall vertical boards installed next to each other without gaps. Elegant gates mark the three entrances to the garden.

Within the planting beds, staff have planted the boxwood edging, as well as parts of the perennial borders and many historic varieties of vegetables.  Dozens of fruit trees are in the garden already or are ready to be planted soon.

All spring, summer, and fall, Gunston Hall’s horticulturist and her volunteer team grow vegetables and flowers that were familiar to George Mason, his family, and the enslaved workers who tended the garden.  

Visit our Learning from Home: Cooking and Drinking page to learn more about foods consumed by people at Gunston Hall.

Explore the People of Gunston Hall page.

What’s next for the garden?

We expect the final construction on the terraces to be done by the end of the summer of 2023.  We look forward to then welcoming visitors into the garden itself.  Until the garden opens to the public, the best views of the garden are available from inside the mansion during guided tours.

Over the next few years, we will continue to add historic varieties of fruiting trees and shrubs and perennial flowers to reproduce the borders that framed the garden beds.  Seasonally, we will plant medicinal plants and vegetables within the beds.   

You can help!  Volunteer shifts are available Monday through Thursday and Saturday each week.  To apply to be a garden volunteer, please visit our Volunteer Opportunities page.

Curious about what we’re planting?  Check out the plant list we’re using to decide.

Background on the garden

The riverside garden restoration is the culmination of more than four decades of archaeological research.  Both staff and consulting archaeologists have gathered evidence from dig sites.  Staff, volunteers, and interns have conducted years of documentary research. And staff have learned from the inspiring work done at other sites in the region and around the world.  

Under the leadership of architecture firm Glave and Holmes and landscape architect Robert McGinnis, Gunston Hall conducted additional, targeted research and developed a restoration plan.  We began construction in 2019.  

Carefully, and under the supervision of our archaeologist, the area was cleared of plants and leveled.  Then we added topsoil and leveled the space, taking care not to disturb the archaeological record beneath the ground.  Next, came the structure of the garden, including the four planting bed, the bowling green, and the fence.  For much of 2020, cover crops helped protect the soil from erosion, while also adding nutrients, aerating the soil, and helping prevent weed growth.

Growing Personalities: Q&A

Watch our August 7, 2020, program when we partnered with Monticello and Mount Vernon for a live streaming event that explored the personalities reflected at each property. In this 45-minute event, you will discover the gardens of historic leaders George Mason, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington.

Plan a Picnic

Gunston Hall’s grounds make the perfect setting for a picnic with your friends or loved ones. Whether you choose a spot underneath the famous oak tree, on our viewing mount overlooking the Potomac River, near the Mason Family Burying Ground, or a cozy spot near the Mason family home, there are beautiful views all over the property. You can enjoy your lunch either before or after your tour of George Mason’s historic home, or if you are not interested in a house tour, you can purchase a grounds pass to use the grounds for your picnic and activities for the entire day.

While you are eating, you may see archaeologists at work, wildlife, and tour groups walking the grounds. Feel free to ask Gunston Hall’s knowledgeable archaeologists and staff members any questions you may have while you are out enjoying the day on the grounds.

History

George Mason was a man of ideas who employed his education in ways that demonstrated his refinement and taste. Mason carefully designed views of and from the mansion. People approaching from the land walked or rode along a lane that dipped and rose in order to reveal the mansion in a dramatic fashion. Four rows of cherry trees planted at an angle funneled visitors’ eyes directly to the house, making it the most important element in the landscape. As visitors approached from the river, they caught and lost views of the mansion, until it finally rose into full view.

Employing precise geometry, Mason laid out the landscape features around the mansion on a 60′ grid. The garden fit into this overall scheme. Surrounded by a high fence, the garden was a private place the Mason family reserved for themselves and their guests. Each of the four garden squares provided beauty and function, as flowers surrounded vegetables.

For the enslaved people who tended the garden, the space represented an enormous amount of work. Creating the garden was a project as massive as building the mansion itself. Enslaved workers leveled the ground, laid out paths, built the fence, dug the planting beds, planted and trained espaliered trees, created and tended flower borders, and cultivated produce.

The Grounds

Both the interior and exterior of Gunston Hall demonstrated the Masons’ good taste and refinement. The room arrangement, carvings, wall coverings, and furnishings combined to present a gracious, fashionable home. Visitors to the newly constructed and decorated home had no doubt that the owners were cultured, stylish people.

Outside told a similar story. George Mason shaped and interacted with the land in ways that underlined his status as one of the colony’s (and then state’s) leading planters, thinkers, and political actors. In fact, the landscape is arguably one of the most important extant documents of Mason’s personality and character. Mason self-consciously designed the setting for his home in ways that reflected European ideas of landscape, incorporating principles of perspective, symmetry, and grace. His careful arrangement of trees, walkways, fences, roads, etc. reminded his visitors of his education and leading role in Virginia society.