Ashton 1
Heather Jo Ashton
Dr. Renee Clary
Geology 883
October 7, 2009
Prince William National Forest has 8,000 years of human history. Evidence of
human history began during the Archaic Period when Native Americans spent their time
in the area making tools for hunting and for making clothing or preparing food. Artifacts
have been found all along the Quantico Creek that cuts through the park. After European
settlement, the area now known as Prince William National Forest, was inhabited by
farmers and later part of George Washington’s marching trail to his Yorktown victory.
Although there are over 150 historic structures in the park, in 1936, the Civilian
Conservation Corps built Prince William National Forest in order to offer the people of
D.C. an area of recreation. (National Park Service)
The park’s significance is beyond history. The area’s Quantico Creek watershed
feeds into the Quantico Creak and Dumfries bay. Seventy percent of the watershed is
located on the park. (Alice Ferguson Foundation) Increased efforts and research began
in 1995 for reclamation of mercury amalgamation which, as a result of mining practices
that ended in 1920, continue to lower water pH levels and devastate survivability of
vegetation in particular regions of the park where leaching occurs. (Peterson, Paul)
The beauty of Prince William Forest is a consequence of the park’s unique
variations in topography. The region includes cascading waterfalls, narrow ridgetops
with steep valleys, rolling hills, and ravines. As the valleys created were a result of
erosion of unconsolidated sediments, stable metamorphic rocks of the ridgetops
remained. Park relief ranges from 3 meters above sea level to 122 meters above sea
level. (Colorado State University Research Associates 3)
Ashton 2
Heather Jo Ashton
Dr. Renee Clary
Geology 883
October 7, 2009
Prince William Forest National Park is located in eastern Virginia and occupies
the Piedmont and Coastal provinces. As a result, the park offers a uniqueness of a variety
of ecosystems within its borders. The Piedmont province encompasses the western two-
thirds of the park (Colorado State University Research Associates 4) and is one of the few
remaining Piedmont forest ecosystems (National Park Service). Between these two
provinces is the Fall Line which, through topographical changes, illustrates the geological
differences between both provinces. Coastal province sand and loose sediments eroded
more rapidly than Piedmont metamorphic rocks. Elevation differences between the two
