Watch for Wildlife at Ballston Wetland Park

Ballston Wetland Park has one of Arlington’s better origin stories. The pond was built in 1980 as a stormwater detention basin for runoff from I-66 — not exactly a romantic beginning. Then, in the 1990s, beavers moved in uninvited and took over, delighting residents and confounding county engineers for decades. The four-acre park was long known as Ballston Beaver Pond, and the beavers became genuine neighborhood celebrities. After a  million renovation completed in 2023 that cleared decades of sediment, replaced invasive plants with native species, and added a boardwalk, interpretive signs, turtle basking stations, and a wetland overlook platform, the park reopened as Ballston Wetland Park — beavers relocated, but the wildlife very much still present. Waterfowl, turtles, frogs, egrets, and herons make regular appearances, and there have already been reported beaver sightings since the renovation. Best reached on foot or by bike; the Custis Trail runs adjacent. It is a small, honest, quietly wonderful pocket of nature tucked against the noise of a busy urban corridor — and a reminder that Arlington’s wild side shows up in unexpected places