Brownsville Picnic Area at Manassas National Battlefield Park

The Brownsville Picnic Area is located south of Highway 29 on Groveton Road. This is the main picnic area for Manassas National Battlefield Park, though this is not a place where you would host a large event. It is well suited for a family picnic or perhaps a small birthday party. Most of those who use the facility are visitors who come to see the battlefield or to hike in the park. If you do want to host a small group, be sure to show up early in the morning, because all tables are taken on a first come, first served basis.

The picnic area has a dozen tables, most of which are in the covered pavilion. There are a few others situated out in the open. There are no grills. The restroom is what I call a fancy outhouse—chemical toilets in a permanent building. There is no running water.

Covered picnic pavilion at the Brownsville Picnic Area at Manassas National Battlefield Park

Picnic tables at the Brownsville Picnic Area in Manassas National Battlefield Park

For recreation while picnicking, there is a short “Kids Track” trail, but I did not hike it. There is also plenty of flat, open ground where you can toss a ball or Frisbee.

The parking lot is huge, but this is because it doubles as the horse trailer parking area for those who come to the park to ride their horses on the bridle trails. There are even a few hitching posts along the lot’s perimeter. In addition to one horse trailer, there were a few large RVs parked here when I visited, so I am guessing that the owners towed their cars to drive around sightseeing and used the parking lot as a home base for their RVs.

Brownsville Picnic Area parking lot at Manassas National Battlefield Park

The Brownsville Picnic Area is situated in a section of the park known as Stuart’s Hill. This entire area was slated to be a residential and commercial development until the land was purchased by the Federal government in 1988, so this is a newer section to Manassas National Battlefield Park. Stuart’s Hill was the site of General Robert E. Lee’s headquarters and the staging ground for General James Longstreet’s troops during the Second Battle of Manassas.

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