Arlington’s two county-government-operated nature centers will see their operating days doubled in two weeks.
The county’s Department of Parks and Recreation has announced plans for Long Branch and Gulf Branch nature centers to be open six days a week for the winter season, starting on Tuesday, Nov. 12.
Seasonal winter hours will be:
- Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Sundays, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Currently, the nature centers are open three days per week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. — Gulf Branch Thursdays through Saturdays and Long Branch Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Wintertime programming will be robust, Jerusalem Solomon of the Department of Parks and Recreation told ARLnow:
“The nature centers will continue to offer their popular nature classes on a wide variety of topics, including flying squirrels, winter-tree identification, owl prowls, winter campfires and much more throughout the cooler months.”
“Visitors are encouraged to check out the many wildlife exhibits, explore information about Arlington’s natural trails, sign up to volunteer, and more,” Solomon told ARLnow.
After being closed due to Covid, the nature centers reopened with restricted hours. As part of the county government’s fiscal 2025 budget, $185,000 in supplemental funding was added to expand public accessibility to six days per week.
County Board member (and 2024 chair) Libby Garvey for several years waged a largely lonely battle from the board dais to get hours returned. This year, she was able to pull together a working majority to secure the funding.
Ultimately, County Manager Mark Schwartz came around to her point of view and supported the proposal.
“I am very pleased that we are finally able to get back to more hours,” Garvey told ARLnow. “Our nature centers are an important resource for our community, and I’d like people to be able to use them as much as possible.”
Garvey, who in two months will wrap up a quarter-century of service on the County Board and School Board, said Long Branch and Gulf Branch provided great venues to decompress.
“Many people, including myself, find time in natural places a way to ease the stresses of modern life and connect with an important part of our humanity,” she said.
Also advocating for longer hours had been Friends of Gulf Branch Nature Center. Its president, Duke Banks, expressed relief that the effort had ended in success.
“We look forward to having all of Arlington’s nature centers opened six days a week,” he told ARLnow. “It would have been sooner, but Parks and Recreation needed to hire additional staff.”
Banks also praised county staff for organizing the Oct. 6 Fall Heritage Festival at Gulf Branch.
“The event brought out several hundred folks, young and old, which shows the true potential that nature centers in Arlington have for bringing out a crowd,” he said.
The two local-government nature centers in Arlington are complemented by Potomac Overlook Regional Park, operated by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (NOVA Parks). It has a six-day operating schedule, being open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m.
