Bluebells on the Potomac

I found a really nice trail this weekend in Riverbend Park.  Up until now I've been doing the loop found on HikingUpward.com, but this weekend I decided to take the Potomac Heritage Trail by the river North of the park.  I'm not quite sure how far it goes, but I probably went about 2 miles up river.  I usually like to go to Riverbend Park to see the Bluebells this time of year, but this trail lets me see the flowers and gets me away from the crowds to allow me to let Millie off-leash quite a bit.  Millie also loves jumping into the river in couple of the spots with easy access (but sheltered enough to not have much of a current).  Further up the trail there is a little bit of an elevation gain, and I went as far as the second picnic table.  According to this map, it looks like the trail between Riverbend Park and Algonkian Park is about eight miles.  I should try it from the other end sometime.  The one in Loudoun is probably nice too.

Btw, I'm not sure when they started this, but the park was charging $5 for parking at the visitors center on Saturday.  Apparently twice a year, they charge entry for special events.  Saturday was Bluebells on the Bend festival.  I ended up parking at the Nature Center to avoid the fee, but went down to the main visitors center to check out the festival.  It was a pretty small affair with a burger stand, kettle corn stand, puppet show for kids, a music stage, and reptile display.