Deshundra Jefferson, Chair of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, speaking via Zoom to the Quarterly Meeting on January 22, 2026
History
The Greater Prince William Trails Coalition started in 2019. The county and National Park Service rounded up the usual suspects in preparation for writing the Parks, Recreation and Tourism chapter for the 2040 Comprehensive Plan in 2022.
:Local organizations interested in trails – including boaters interested in blueways, equestrians, on-road cyclists and mountain bikers – have stayed engaged. When the Mobility Chapter was adopted in 2022, many of the revisions to the 2008 Countywide Trails Plan were identified by the organizations that formed the Greater Prince William Trails Coalition. That chapter identified a variety of trails, including paved Shared Use Paths, on-road bike routes and sharrows, and natural surface trails.
Today the coalition is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization with a seven-person Board of Directors that meets monthly. Annual coalition budget is just $2,500/year, primarily for outreach efforts.
Meetings
The Prince William Trails and Streams Coalition organizes a monthly Second Sunday hike for the public. They offer time for exploring existing trails and schmoozing together. Why meet in an office or coffee shop, when the trails are calling?
Quarterly Meetings in January, April, June and October gather together 15-20 representatives of various trail-related organizations, plus members of the public who want to get engaged. Quarterly Meetings are hybrid. George Mason University generously provides space for the in-person component at the Potomac Science Center. (Come in person; the coalition provides donuts, coffee, and tea.)
Who We Are
The coalition deals with PW County, Manassas, and Manassas Park; that’s why “Greater” is in the name. The Mayor of Manassas Park, Alanna Mensing, is on the board.
About half of our 20 or so active member organizations are government agencies, including PW County Department of Transportation and Department of Parks and Recreation. Other member organizations represent hikers, mountain bikers, road bikers, boaters, equestrians, and conservationists.
The coalition is actively recruiting businesses and health-related organizations, since trails involve economic development and offer opportunities to improve physical/mental health. The least-expensive medical prescription is “take a hike.”
What We Do
Ensuring effective communication across organizational and bureaucratic boundaries, helping people co-alish, is always a priority. The newsletter is distributed at least monthly to over 200 subscribers. Coalition members attend meetings of other organizations, and Second Sunday hikes are a regular networking opportunity.
A lot of the coalition’s time is invested in co-alishing to reduce surprises. Coalition members take the extra step required to transmit agency plans and the status of trails-related projects beyond government channels, and to link the efforts of non-government organizations. Member organizations research what’s planned/what’s happening/what’s not getting done, then amplify information transfer. There is often an opportunity to synchchronize trails planning and projects with adjacent counties and with state agencies, as well as within jurisdictions south of the Occoquan River.
Non-government organizations in the coalition advocate consistently for coordinated trails planning, funding to implement those plans, and resources to maintain the already-in-place trails network. Between 2019-205 the primary focus was on planning trails. Now the focus is on getting the funding needed to implement the plans, starting with the FY27 budgets and a bond issue to go to Prince William County voters in November 2026.
Board Members (2026)
Mike Freeland, Manassas Parks and Recreation Commission (Treasurer)
Charlie Grymes, Prince William Conservation Allliance (Chair)
Alanna Mensing, Manassas Park
Allen Muchnick, Active Prince William (Vice-Chair)
Neil Nelson, Prince William Trails and Streams Coalition
Eileen Sheridan, Trails and Blueways Council (Secretary)
Contact
Contact us at info@gpwtrails.org
Mailing Address:
PO Box 1674
Woodbridge, VA 22195