Under the Wilson Bridge

We refer to this as the Troll park, what lives under the bridge?  In this case, a park under the massive Wilson Bridge that carries 495-95 across the Potomac at Alexandria.  The original design created huge paved parking lots directly under the bridge, by the time it the bridge was finished the idea of allowing parking of hundreds of vehicles under a major highway bridge was seen as a major security risk.  Some of the lots have been converted to basketball courts, and other hard surface facilities,  the rest is closed to parking, (parking was created parallel to the bridge in the north side. The nice smooth paved area is popular with bikes, skateboards, rollerblades and others.

The drawbridge section is near the Virginia shore, the entrance for the bridge keepers tower is out of this parking lot, look carefully and you can find the entrance and access catwalks for the bridge tending staff.  Along the river there is access for small boats that can be carried to the water, and two fishing areas.  The area connects to the Mt Vernon trail, actually signals a gap in the trail as it goes through Old Town Alexandria.