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The Bull Run Occoquan Trail meanders through a sea of bluebells.

Mark VanDyke

Parking

Parking can be tight at the Bull Run Run. Our parking volunteers will work hard to make parking easier for you. We hope you will help us. And carpooling will be rewarded!

Map of the Hemlock Overlook, the start/finish.

Parking can be challenging at BRR, particularly if the weather conditions are wet. The shortest possible walk from the field that we use as the primary parking lot to the start is at least ¼ mile, and some will have to walk up to ½ mile. The lot is grass (with some mud, depending on the weather) and not flat. Parking may be challenging, particularly if we experience wet conditions around the time of the race.

What You Can Do to Help

Here is how you can help us:

  • Be Patient and Polite - We will have a crew of volunteer parking attendants. Please be polite to them. Be patient.
  • Park Close Together - Our parking attendants will ask you to park close to your neighbor. This may appear to be inconvenient, we know. But we need to get everyone in! Please help.
  • Bring the Right Car - If you have a choice of car, bring one that will do well in mud. Do not, however, bring a large vehicle if you can avoid it. Please leave campers, big trucks, etc. at home.
  • Park Legally! - See below for important rules. Please park correctly.
  • Carpool! - There is a small, inner parking lot located steps away from the start/finish line that is saved for those who arrive at the race with more than one registered runner in their vehicle. Bring a friend(s) who also has a race number; you’ll be glad you did!!

Crew Parking

DON’T!

Please abide by these rules. Illegally parked cars may be towed.

  • Do not Park ANYWHERE on Yates Ford Road - You approach Hemlock on Yates Ford Road. It is the last mile or so of your trip. Do not park on this road. Especially don’t park on the left side of this road, which has no shoulder. You will see places to park on the right side of this road adjacent to the entrance to Hemlock. On race day, we must leave those spaces open for turning around, and for hikers, dog walkers and others who are using the trail. It is important that you obey these parking restrictions, as our ability to obtain future permits to use Hemlock as our host site would be endangered otherwise.
  • Don’t park at the Paradise Spring Winery - As you approach Hemlock, there is a winery on the left side of the Yates Ford Road. Do not park there! Again - do not park anywhere on the left side of the road. Saturdays in April are busy times for the winery, and they need all of their own parking for their visitors. They have towed at least one desperate, late-arriving BRR runners’ vehicle in the past, and they will surely do so again if they find a car or van in their lot early on Saturday morning! You do NOT want to be the runner who finishes a 50 mile race only to find your car has been towed away.
  • Do Not Block Anything - Don’t park in front of gates, roads, other cars, etc.

Friday Parking

The Saturday parking lots will be closed on Friday. Please go to the very end of Yates Ford Road and turn right to pull directly into the Hemlock campus through the entrance gate on Friday to park and to pick up your race packet. If you are camping, then let a race official know, so we can direct you into the carpool parking area before you set up your tent or settle in to your bunkhouse. Please do not park without getting a race official’s assistance! You are going to get premier parking as a perk for staying overnight at Hemlock on Friday night, but we ask that you get our help to ensure your vehicle isn’t an impediment to the carpool parkers coming in pre-dawn on Saturday.

Thank you for your cooperation. Happy Trails!

The above map supplements our wonderful “Map of the Hemlock Overlook” drawing that you encountered at the top of this page. You can zoom in to the Google Map to better see the symbols helpfully placed there for you.

  • The primary parking is along both sides of “Park Authority Road” (marked with grey parking symbols)
  • There is NO parking anywhere on Yates Ford Road.
  • There is NO parking at the Paradise Springs Winery
  • The green trailhead pushpin marks the entrance to the host site for the race, Hemlock Overlook Regional Park.
  • Carpool and Friday night overnight parking is in a field below the entrance road (grey parking symbol); it is accessed very close to the start/finish area (marked by a blue circle with a checkered flag).
  • The bathhouse is marked with the blue circle with a showering figure, at the top of a hill leading up from the start area.
  • Across from the bathhouse is a white circle. This marks the cabin where you can pick up your race bib on Friday afternoon or Saturday morning.
  • The bunkhouses and camping area available for Friday night accommodations are shown in yellow.
  • Dropbags for Hemlock aid station/finish may be left at the pavilion that serves as that aid station (marked in blue with a bag symbol)
  • Dropbags for the Fountainhead aid station will be collected adjacent to the start area.
  • The northernmost symbol (in red) marks the location of the Lodge, the dining hall where pre-race coffee and food will be location on race morning. The “Furbutt Cafe” with the post-race food will be located here in case of bad weather; otherwise it will be at the on a small hill overlooking the finish line.

Last updated March 31, 2024