Start of the Pumpkin Ash Trail

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See the main Hiking Trails web page for a trail map.

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Length: 1-mile loop
Time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

A loop can be made from the Pumpkin Ash Trail and the Blackberry Trail, both of which are located within the boundary of the National Colonial Farm run by the Accokeek Foundation. The hike begins on the Pumpkin Ash Trail, an out-and-back trail that ends at the Blackberry Trail. It starts at the farm Visitor Center, but the trailhead is difficult to find. Walk to the back of the building and follow the dirt road to the right. A large sign that describes the trail is at the trailhead. According to the sign, the trail passes through a forest, a wetland, and a grassland.

The Pumpkin Ash Trail is marked with yellow blazes painted on the trees and starts off on land that was once cleared for farming but has since been reclaimed by forest over the last fifty years. I was the first hiker of the morning, which made me the guy who ran through all of the spider webs that had been weaved across the trail over night, and there were a lot of them. The trail is narrow, so be careful of brushing up against anything green. I did pick up a tick during the hike, though much farther down on the Blackberry Trail.

Typical terrain of the forest section of the Pumpkin Ash Trail

The forest walk only lasts a couple of minutes before coming to a marsh that is spanned by a boardwalk. With the entire Pumpkin Ash Trail being only a quarter-mile long and passing through three environments, it doesn’t take long to move from one to the other.

Wetlands section of the Pumpkin Ash Trail

The last section of the trail runs along the Potomac River. You can get a view of Mount Vernon from here.

Pumpkin Ash trail runs along the Potomac towards the end

The Pumpkin Ash Trail intersects with the Blackberry Trail after a quarter mile, and though the trail appears to continue, according to the Colonial Farm map, it ends here. If you continue down the trail all you will find is a fence bounding the former Robert Ware Straus Ecosystem Farm (now closed and used as a pasture for the farm animals) and two solar panels. The trail is most likely used by those servicing the panels. Don’t waste you time going that route; turn onto the Blackberry Trail.

Blackberry-Pumpkin Ash Trail intersection

The Blackberry Trail is marked with purple blazes and starts off by running along the fence of the Straus Farm.

Robert Straus Farm

There was a lot of mud along the fence, and the wet area seemed to be favored by turtles. I came across two box turtles within a short distance of each another.

Eastern box turtle

The Blackberry Trail hugs the farm fence for less than .2 mile before diverging into the forest. It is along this section that I picked up the aforementioned tick.

Typical terrain through the forest on the Blackberry Trail

In a quarter mile you will come to an intersection with a dirt road. This is the end of the Blackberry Trail, .4 mile from the intersection with the Pumpkin Ash Trail. However, you are now in the middle of the forest. To avoid returning to the Visitor Center the same way you came, you can form a loop by taking a right on the dirt road. A left leads to the Straus Farm.

Dirt road that leads back to the paved park road

In another tenth of a mile you will come to the main park road. Take a right and then another immediate right, following the ALL VISITORS sign. This takes you back to the Visitor Center, completing a 1-mile loop around the eastern section of the farm.

Take the park road back to the parking lot

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