Interesting Places Along Difficult Run Trail

Madeira School Founded in 1906 by Lucy Madeira Wing, this school for girls was moved in 1931 from Washington to its 400-acre campus on the Potomac.

The juxtaposition of two stores, French County Living and Thelma's, is so great you really should see them both. They are in the 10200 block of Colvin Run Road a half-mile west of the trail at Colvin Run Mill Park. On the way to the stores, be sure to see the country store; the miller's house; the blacksmith shop; the Alfred Leigh house (1890), now a restaurant; Colvin Run School; and the grange. French Country Living is a botique for those who appreciate the finer things in life. Thelma's is a country store selling home-made ice cream. All of these are part of Colvin Run Village. Long before Tyson's Corner became an "edge city," this village was the largest settlement on Leesburg Pike between Falls Church and Leesburg. The village lost its importance when the county paved roads, enabling people to drive everywhere with ease, beginning in 1920. Today it has not changed too much.

Dulles Toll Road underpass.

Reston, the new town.

• Lake Audubon in Reston.

• The beaver colony in The Glade. The Reston Association has allowed beavers to dam Snakeden Branch, the stream which flows through The Glade. In fact, the R.A. prohibits private citizens from tampering with the beavers' dams or lodges on R.A. property. For more information on the beavers protected by the R.A. The R.A. has also erected interpretive signs.

Hunter Horse Rink.

Camp Crowell, Girl Scouts of America. 80-acre campus.

Flint Hill School. 15-acre campus.

Appalachian Outfitters, known by hikers for miles around, in Oakton.