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Bull Run Regional Park and Playgrounds

7700 Bull Run Drive, Centreville, VA, USA

Dawn to Dusk

$$

hikes, playground, camping, water-activities

Bull Run Regional Park in Centreville, Virginia has so much to do and see!

Bull Run Regional Park is home to awesome trails, large playgrounds, Civil War history, a campground and a waterpark. It also hosts the Bull Run Festival of Lights during the holiday season. 

Our family enjoys visiting Bull Run throughout the year! The playgrounds are so much fun in nice weather and the many picnic locations make this a great get-together spot since there is so much green space and room to spread out. Many of the picnic areas are reservable as well. Several of the picnic areas are located right near two playgrounds and there is also a bathroom facility, although the bathrooms are only open seasonally. The largest playground is immediately to the left when you first enter the park. This playground has several tall and shorter slides,  a unique log tunnel to crawl through and swings. There are two baby swings and four regular swings. The playground is surrounded by a lot of tall trees so there is some shade here. 

The first playground is also near a Civil War historic area with interpretive signage. 

A second playground is a little further down the same road.  This playground is smaller and does not have shade but was fun to check out! It had two regular swings, a small play structure and a fun spinning seat.

We also love the many trails, the most well-known is the Bluebell Trail. Bluebell flowers bloom in early to mid-April and are so beautiful! The trail takes you along a boardwalk for a little way before turning and following a pretty stream. This trail is known to get very crowded when Bluebells are in season and is also quite a muddy trail at times so a change of shoes and clothes is a good idea! 

Bull Run Regional Park is also home to Atlantis Waterpark which is open seasonally as well as a campground! There is another huge playground in the campground area as well as a camp store. 

There are no shops or restaurants in close distance to the park with the exception of the camp store meant for campers so make sure to bring plenty of water and snacks or a picnic with you! 

 

Features

Playground Trails Camping Water play
Thoughtfully captured by:
Eileen Myhr
Eileen Myhr is a northern Virginia native rediscovering all her childhood favorites with her three daughters. She and her husband, Aaron, want to take their girls to 500 different parks and playgrounds in the DC area and are so excited to share their best finds with Happyly families! Eileen has worked as a freelance writer and teacher and enjoys reading, writing and planning the next family adventure when she’s not at a park with her family.
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