Dancing Marsh Trail Map (click to enlarge)

Length: .75-mile loop
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

While the Dancing Marsh Trail is officially a loop, it is really just a C-shaped trail with one starting point near the Colonial Farm barn and the other at the footbridge that crosses a small cove on Popes Creek near the Washington birth site area. I started the hike near the barn, doing so after a visit to the birth site and the farm. Yes, I walked all the way back to the barn to officially complete the loop, but had I not been hiking the trail as a writer, I would have crossed the footbridge and cut through the historic area to get back to my car at George Washington Birthplace National Monument Visitor Center.

To find the barn trailhead, if coming from the historic area, walk along the path that runs in front of the barn and workshop. There is a picket fence on either side. Eventually the farm ends and you are shuttled onto the hiking trail. Officially, you’ve been on the trail ever since you started walking the path through the farm.

Walk through the Colonial Farm at George Washington Birthplace National Monument

Start of the Dancing Marsh Trail near the Colonial Farm barn at George Washington Birthplace National Monument

Not long after starting the hike, you will come to an intersection marked with a small sign that reads “SPRING.” If you want to see the source of a fresh water spring, stay straight, otherwise take a right to stay on the Dancing Marsh Trail. A boardwalk spans the marsh, keeping hikers out of the water. Only here and at another boardwalk a little farther ahead will you have a chance to see and photograph the marsh; the rest of the trail runs through the forest.

Boardwalk through Dancing Marsh at George Washington Birthplace National Monument

Dancing Marsh at George Washington Birthplace National Monument

Once you cross the second boardwalk you will come to the intersection with the Nature Trail. The two form a Figure-8, with the Dancing Marsh Trail being the lower of the two loops. At the intersection take a right. From this point until the next intersection with the footbridge, the two trails share the same path, this being the middle section of the Figure-8. As with the first boardwalk, as soon as you cross you are back in the forest.

Intersection of the Nature and Dancing Marsh Trails at George Washington Birthplace National Monument

The footbridge is less than a quarter mile ahead; cross it to stay on the Dancing Marsh Trail and return to the Washington Birthplace historic area. Straight puts you on the Nature Trail heading towards the Popes Creek Picnic Area.

Footbridge to the Washington birthplace historic area at George Washington Birthplace National Monument

Once you get across, the next move is up to you. If you want to say that you completed the hike, head to the right towards two white buildings, which are the Weaving Rooms, and then follow the path back to the barn and the start of the trail. Otherwise, enjoy exploring the Washington Birthplace historic area.

The Dancing Marsh Loop Trail follows a gravel path to the Weaving Room and barn at George Washington Birthplace National Monument

The Dancing Marsh Trail is an easy hike. The terrain is flat and the surface of the trail is smooth. There are no side trails on which to make a wrong turn. While the trail serves no historical purpose, one can always imagine a young George Washington walking the area. Even though he moved away when he was only 3-years-old, his family still owned the property, and he often came back for a visit until his father died in 1743 and the land was inherited by half-brother.

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