Little Hunting Creek

38°42′47″N 77°04′27″W / 38.71294°N 77.07412°W / 38.71294; -77.07412

Little Hunting Creek
Little Hunting Creek, viewed from its east bank looking south
Location
CountryUnited States
StateVirginia
CountyFairfax County
Physical characteristics
Mouth 
 • location
Potomac River
 • elevation
0 feet (0 m)
Length3.6 miles (5.8 km)

Little Hunting Creek is a 3.6-mile-long (5.8 km)[1] primarily tidal tributary of the Potomac River located in Fairfax County, Virginia, not to be confused with Hunting Creek farther north. A stone-arch bridge, completed in 1931,[2] carries traffic on the George Washington Memorial Parkway across the narrow mouth of the creek, located 96.6 miles (155.5 km) upriver from the mouth of the Potomac.[3] The Washington family built its Mount Vernon plantation on the Potomac River along both banks of Little Hunting Creek during colonial times.[4][5] The creek is bordered by residential communities in addition to the Mount Vernon property. It is a popular location for recreational fishing, and much of the wildlife characteristic of the tidal Potomac wetlands can be spotted there.

  1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed August 15, 2011
  2. ^ "Historic American Engineering Record Survey Number HAER VA-42-D, Mount Vernon Memorial Highway: Little Hunting Creek Bridge". Historic American Engineering Record, National Park Service, Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
  3. ^ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (2007). United States Coast Pilot 3 (40th edition), Chapter 12: Chesapeake Bay, Potomac River (PDF). Washington, D.C.: Federal Aviation Administration. p. 313. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-07-13. Retrieved 2007-05-19.
  4. ^ "Mount Vernon's Beginnings [originally published in 1925]". Retrieved 2007-05-20.
  5. ^ "History of Mount Vernon". George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens. Archived from the original on 2011-08-11. Retrieved 2007-05-20.