Runnymede Park, located in the Town of Herndon, has become a conservation haven for the diabase community in the Triassic Basin of northern Virginia. With its relatively small area, the park boasts an impressive range of habitats and a unique and intact flora that is representative of diabase soils. It was in 2000 that the VNPS Potowmack Chapter presented a plaque to the Town of Herndon to recognize Runnymede Park as a VNPS Registry Site.
Runnymede Park is situated along Herndon Parkway north of Elden Street, and is named after Sugarland Run, a Potomac River tributary. Initially, the land was purchased by the Town of Herndon in 1973, 1987 and 1988, and then named after Herndon’s sister city in England. It was in 1993 when a major diesel oil spill down Sugarland Run changed the landscape permanently and wiped out muskrats, beavers and aquatic life.
Since then, the stream has recovered tremendously, with a rich diversity of fish found in the annual sampling done by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, as well as the reestablishment of beaver families in the park. In addition, the park now features two picnic shelters and an interpretive garden, along with a chimney swift tower at the park entrance.
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The Runnymede Park has also become a popular attraction for botanists, with a total of over 450 native species of vascular plants discovered. It is also a great place for bluebirds, with 10 to 20 new hatchlings seen in the spring, and adults often visible even in the winter. Not to mention, the vegetation changes dramatically as you move a few feet higher in elevation.
The park also faces the challenge of invasive species, including multi-flora rose, Japanese honeysuckle, oriental bittersweet, garlic mustard, autumn olive, Russian olive, Bradford pear, Japanese barberry, mile-a-minute vine and Java dropwort. To combat this, volunteers have taken to invasive removal efforts to maintain habitat for the native plant diversity.
With such a remarkable array of natural elements, it begs the question: what more could one ask for in a park?
