LKate

Hello,

We'll be staying at Pohick Bay Campground and parking at the Springfield Metro to get back and forth into/out of D.C. for 3 days in June. Is the lot prone to be full? If so, what are the alternatives?

Thanks very much.

LKate

hop_along

We did this a couple of years ago and it worked out great -- easy to find, convenient access for our camper van, and ample all-day parking within easy walking distance of the trains. Someone else might offer you more recent information, but based on our experience you should do fine.

hop_along

p.s. -- Perhaps I should add that the Northern Virginia traffic can be overwhelming, but you probably know that. Avoiding the worst of the rush hour helps considerably.

LKate

Thank you. It sounds like we shouldn't have any trouble w/parking, that's a bit of a relief!

Laura

tahl

In the summer, you should be fine, b/c some of the folks who park there normally are off on their own vacations.

In the extremely unlikely event that you are not fine, the Huntington station parking lots will *not* be full, I guarantee. It's another 15 minute drive from Franconia/Springfield; look at a map, & you'll see that you'd get there down Franconia Road, Left on Telegraph, Right onto either N. Kings Highway (comes up first) or Huntington (there are two entrances to the set of parking lots).

IMPORTANT: You *must* use a SmartTrip card to get out of Metro parking lots. It's required. So one person in your party *must* get one of those (in the station) to use as a ticket, & put enough money on it to pay for parking too. The others could use, say, one-day passes (though be aware that those aren't valid until, I think, 9:30am on weekdays). All the details are here:
http://www.wmata.com/fares/purchase/passes.cfm

LKate

Thanks for all of the info, Tahl.

In looking at the Web site, it appears that a SmartTrip card is currently not necessary at the Franconia-Springfield lot. If you know otherwise, (for example, maybe the pilot program has ceased) please let me know. Thanks. I pasted the below from the site:

"Credit card pilot program. As part of a pilot program, riders can now pay daily parking fees with a major credit card at six Metrorail stations. The parking facilities at the Anacostia, Franconia-Springfield, Largo Town Center, Vienna/Fairfax-GMU, Shady Grove, and New Carrollton Metrorail stations each have one exit lane that accepts both credit card payments and SmarTrip.

LKate

tahl

Lkate -- That's very interesting! I did not know they were experimenting with allowing credit card payment at Franconia/Springfield.

As for whether that program has ceased, my experience is that the www.wmata.com site (the Metro site) is usually up to date, so you're probably good to go. (You may also find discussion about the pilot program on www.washingtonpost.com; the traffic column is where it would appear, and that goes under the name of Dr. Gridlock.)

furledleader

Just a note: Parking at all the Metro park & rides is free on Saturdays, Sundays, & most holidays.

LKate

Tahl- Great, it sounds like the Web site is kept current, so we should be okay w/o the SmartTrip card. Thanks for the Washington Post info, I will take a look at that now.

Furledleader - we'll be there Monday through Friday, so we'll miss out on the freebie. But thanks!

LKate

dajablock

Hi,We will be staying at Pohick Campground in Sept.would you mind sharing the route you took to the Springfield Metro Station?I have AAA & Map Quest directions?