Historic Trail Gets Scenic Rerouting Park Service Buys Blue Ridge Land By Linda Wheeler Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, October 26, 2003; Page LZ01 The National Park Service has bought a 445-acre parcel of forest, open fields and farms in Fauquier and Clarke counties that will allow it to move about one mile of the Appalachian trail from a fire road to a high point of the Blue Ridge Mountains with views of Middleburg and Upperville. The $1.2 million purchase from the Piedmont Environmental Council was announced Friday at a ceremony in Paris with officials from both organizations and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) attending. However, actual transfer of the land occurred in late August, according to the council. The property was part of the 1,400-acre Ovoka Farm bought by the council in December 2000 for $6 million from Middleburg real estate broker Philip Thomas, who had decided to put the farm in the hands of environmentalists. It also includes the scenic acreage where a young George Washington lived and did survey work in the mid-1700s. "This action assures that the public will enjoy one of the most beautiful and historic viewsheds in America, a landscape that defines the Virginia Piedmont," Wolf said in prepared remarks. Wolf, with the aid of Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va), shepherded legislation through Congress to make the purchase. After the ceremony, Robert King of Arlington, a longtime member of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, and others went to see where the new trail would be laid. King painted a six-inch vertical stripe on a pole the Park Service had erected as the first official trail marker. King said the old trail had no view and generally followed a fire road while the new corridor "offers an outstanding view." "When you get up here, it is just so beautiful," he said while standing at the mountain's ridge. The park service purchase lies along the eastern side of the Blue Ridge Mountains at Ashby Gap, once the gateway for Americans heading west. The view includes 100 acres of open fields, forests and streams of the Virginia Piedmont and the Loudoun Valley, the Route 50 corridor, Lonesome Mountain, Crooked Run Valley and the Bull Run and Cobbler mountains, according to the council. On a clear day, hikers can see 30 miles to Reston and Leesburg in the east an d west to the Allegheny Mountains. Terms of the sale include restrictions on any structure being built on the property or trees cleared from a major portion along the Fauquier side of the property that would affect the view. According to the council, the land transferred to the Park Service includes additional forested land on either side of the mountain ridge and what could have been the site for 25 houses. The parcel includes 139 acres in Fauquier County and 306 in Clarke County. The mission of the council, founded in 1972, is to promote and protect the rural economy, natural resources, history and beauty of the northern Virginia Piedmont, an area where soldiers fought in the Revolutionary and Civil wars. Through the council's efforts, 175,000 acres -- mostly privately owned farm and forest land -- have been protected permanently by conservation easements. © 2003 The Washington Post Company