Coordinates: 38°48′12.6″N 77°35′16.7″W / 38.803500°N 77.587972°W / 38.803500; -77.587972 Conway Robinson State Forest is a state forest in Prince William County, Virginia, located near Manassas National Battlefield Park. It serves as a wildflower and wildlife sanctuary. The forest features 444 acres of pine plantation, mixed pine, and old-growth hardwoods and is one of the largest tracts of undeveloped land owned by the Commonwealth in all of Northern Virginia.
The Conway Robinson State Forest was named after Conway Robinson. Conway Robinson was a 19th century lawyer, historian, and author from the state of Virginia. He is most famous for having argued approximately 100 cases before the Supreme Court of the United States and being a founding member of the Virginia Historical Society. The Conway Robinson Park Memorial Association sought to perpetuate the memory of him as a distinguished Virginian through the development of a state forest. The forest became a state forest in February 1938.
The Conway Robinson State Forest serves as a demonstration site for "best practices" in forestry. These practices cover all forest activities from tree planting to harvesting, as well as environmental considerations for water quality, aesthetics and wildlife. These practices incorporate a multiple use management plan which focuses on the advantages and benefits of managing the total resource. In addition, this Forest provides a valuable area for research projects by college or university students, tours and demonstrations, and other educational activities. With more than two million people living within 30 miles of the forest it is an important demonstration and education tool for the community.
The forest is a popular recreation area with various uses. It features approximately 5.1 miles of multi-use trails. These trails are especially popular for hiking, mountain biking, trail riding, geocaching, and more. The forest is open to the public for recreation activities during daylight hours.
As of July 1, 2009, a State Forest Use Permit is required for those persons aged 16 or older to practice the following activities on a state forest:
A valid Virginia hunting license or fishing license in addition to a State Forest Permit ($15 per year) are required for hunting, trapping or fishing on the forest. A State Forest Use Permit is not required for forest visitors who practice the following activities on a state forest:
walking hiking boatingFamous quotes containing the words state and/or forest:
“If a thousand men were not to pay their tax-bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood. This is, in fact, the definition of a peaceable revolution, if any such is possible.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“A township where one primitive forest waves above while another primitive forest rots below,—such a town is fitted to raise not only corn and potatoes, but poets and philosophers for the coming ages. In such a soil grew Homer and Confucius and the rest, and out of such a wilderness comes the Reformer eating locusts and wild honey.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)