Whether you come to hike, wildlife watch or simply to relax, Fairfax County Park Authority's largest park will provide you with a premiere nature experience. Click on any of the above images for a larger, higher quality picture. Huntley Meadows lies in a wet lowland that was carved out by an ancient meander of the Potomac River. The resulting freshwater wetland is one of the rarest habitats left in Fairfax County. Acre for acre, a healthy wetland supports more life than almost any other habitat.
Wetlands also purify polluted waters and control the destructive power of floods and storms.
Thomson Mason, a grandson of George Mason, built a home on the property in 1825. The house, now known as Historic Huntley, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Virginia Landmarks Register, and the Fairfax County Historic House Inventory. An exhibit of Historic Huntley is available online. Mason family ownership lasted into the early 1900s, with sections of the land being sold for family farms. In the late 1920s, entrepreneur Henry Woodhouse reassembled the parcels, purchasing 1500 acres from 10 landowners.