Explore a park: Mason District Park has something for everyone
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| The pond at Mason District Park. |
This article is part of our series on parks in the Annandale/Mason District area. The last piece in this series explored Roundtree Park.
At 60 acres, Mason District Park is the largest park in Mason District. It’s a great place for a nature walk, team sports, outdoor concert, and much more.
Features: Mason District Park has soccer fields, a baseball field, basketball courts, lighted tennis courts, nature trails, playground, tot lot, an amphitheater, a dog park, reservable picnic shelters, and restrooms.
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| The Annandale Farmers Market |
During the warmer months, the Fairfax County Park Authority hosts the Annandale Farmers Market in Mason District Park every Thursday, 8 a.m.-noon.
Entertainment: The Spotlight by Starlight concert series features live music on Friday, Sunday, and Wednesday evenings all summer long in the park’s outdoor amphitheater. Children’s shows are held on Saturday mornings. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the concerts were virtual in summer 2020. The Park Authority hasn’t determined whether the 2021 concert series will be live or remain virtual.
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| The Mason District Little League uses the new baseball field. |
Access: The entrance, at 6621 Columbia Pike leads to two parking lots, one near the ball fields, and one by the amphitheater. Mason District Park is also accessible from the field at Columbia Elementary School and several neighborhood streets, including Roberts Avenue, Pinecrest Parkway, Sleepy Hollow Road, and Knob Hill Court.
Nature: There’s a pond with turtles, frogs, toads, and ducks. The trail crosses Turkeycock Run at several points.
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| The meadow in winter. |
Improvements: A new baseball field, dedicated to Hall of Famer Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez and funded by the Washington Nationals’ Dream Foundation, was completed in 2017. A restoration project on Turkeycock Run was completed in 2018. The basketball courts were resurfaced in 2020.
New interpretive signs were installed in June 2019. The project was spearheaded by local resident David Siegel
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| The soccer fields draw teams of all ages. |
History: Mason District Park opened in 1977. Development of the park cost $1 million and was financed by a bond referendum passed in 1971. Fairfax County acquired the first 20 acres in 1971.
A sign in the park says spear points, arrowheads, and hunting tools found in the park are from the land’s earliest known inhabitants, the Archaic Native American Indians, who lived there from 8,000 to 1,000 BC.
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| Mason District Park hosts free summer concerts. |
An old farm machine at the edge of the meadow reminds the public that the park used to be farmland. Patches of daylilies and roses indicate the presence of a long-ago garden, and the remnants of a fence date from the early 20th century.
A trail map in the park indicates the presence of Aspen Hill Farm in 1808 and Rose Hill Farm in 1882. One of the interpretive signs notes that James Corbin, a freed slave, owned a two-acre plot.
Related story: Descendants of historic families lend authenticity to marker dedication
A Civil War Trails marker installed in 2012 details the area’s Civil War sites including Mason’s Hill, Munson’s Hill, and Bailey’s Crossroads. Mason’s Hill was located near where the Mason Government Center is now. It was owned by Murray Mason (1709-77), the grandson of Founding Father George Mason and son of John Mason, a U.S. senator.
Mason’s Hill was important during the Civil War because of its strategic elevation. Confederate Gen. JEB Stuart had an outpost at on the hill with an observation tower allowing his men to keep an eye on Washington, D.C.
The picture of Mason pond, especially, that you display must have been from 10 years ago. The pond is now in terrible condition. Trash floats in it and most importantly invasive plant species have taken over the pond border as well; you cannot see the pond itself from virtually any area around it.
The issue with invasive plant species is a huge problem and the county doesn’t seem to be doing much about it. Occasionally you will see a contractor spraying but considering the problem, it is a piddle in a huge problem area. It is bad enough that we lost hundreds of oak trees to the blight, and now they are literally being suffocated to death by these plants.
And trash, it is all over the park. Masks, bottles, paper, and even furniture blight this park. FC needs to come up with a strategy to deal with educating the public NOT to throw trash on the ground. Where are the signs, the fines, the training, the clean-up? Whatever happened to the “Don’t be a little bug” or something like it from year’s ago?
Fairfax County, you continually ask for more money for our parks. Let’s deal with some of the core issues.