# Holmes Run > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Holmes_Run > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Holmes_Run.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmes_Run > Source revision: 1274043420 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Use American English|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox river | name = Holmes Run | name_native = | name_native_lang = | name_other = | etymology = | image = Cameron-Run-Holmes-Backlick-Confluence-Arlington-Virginia.jpg | image_size = 260px | image_caption = The confluence of Holmes Run (right) and [Backlick Run](/source/Backlick_Run) (left) into [Cameron Run](/source/Cameron_Run) (foreground) at Ben Brenman Park, Alexandria, Virginia, 1 October 2017 | image_alt = In the foreground is a rocky shallow stream that forks into two a short ways off from the photographer. There is an island in the right fork so that it joins the left fork in two places. Beyond the banks, a grove of deciduous trees rise into blue skies. | map = | map_size = | map_caption = | map_alt = | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_caption= | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = [United States](/source/United_States) | subdivision_type2 = State | subdivision_name2 = [Virginia](/source/Virginia) | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = | subdivision_name5 = | source1 = | source1_location = | source1_coordinates= | source1_elevation = | mouth = | mouth_location = [Cameron Run](/source/Cameron_Run) | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|38.8076|-77.1112|type:river_region:US-VA|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | mouth_elevation = | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = | basin_landmarks = | basin_population = | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right = | waterbodies = | waterfalls = | bridges = | ports = | length_mi = 10.5 | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location = | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = | discharge1_max = | custom_label = [GNIS](/source/Geographic_Names_Information_System) feature ID | custom_data = 1478779{{cite gnis|id=1478779|name=Holmes Run}} | extra = }} thumb|The masonry dam across Holmes Run that creates Barcroft Lake, Fairfax County, Virginia, 22 October 2017|alt=A high dam of irregular square black stone. The top of the dam is an orange primered spillway held in position by hydraulic jacks built into notches in the dam face. A spillway runs down both sides of the dam into a small rocky pond at the foot of the dam. The dam is in the forest and some trees intrude into the picture. [[File:Holmes Run source 2021.jpg|thumb|Looking towards the source of Holmes Run in [Dunn Loring, Virginia](/source/Dunn_Loring%2C_Virginia)]] '''Holmes Run''' is a stream in the [Cameron Run Watershed](/source/Cameron_Run_Watershed) in [Northern Virginia](/source/Northern_Virginia). It runs through [Fairfax County](/source/Fairfax_County%2C_Virginia) and the [City of Alexandria](/source/Alexandria%2C_Virginia). It is a [first-order](/source/Strahler_number) [tributary](/source/tributary) of the [Potomac River](/source/Potomac_River). Its headwater is near the junction of [I-495](/source/Interstate_495_(Capital_Beltway)) and [I-66](/source/Interstate_66). It crosses the region in a southeasterly direction for ten and a half miles until it merges with [Backlick Run](/source/Backlick_Run) to form [Cameron Run](/source/Cameron_Run). Cameron Run becomes [Hunting Creek](/source/Hunting_Creek) and empties into the [Potomac River](/source/Potomac_River) just south of the [Woodrow Wilson Bridge](/source/Woodrow_Wilson_Bridge). In 1913–1915 the Alexandria Water Company built a dam on Holmes Run in order to create [Lake Barcroft](/source/Lake_Barcroft%2C_Virginia) as a [potable water](/source/Drinking_water) [reservoir](/source/reservoir) for Alexandria. In the early post-war era, Alexandria began to exceed the capacity of Lake Barcroft and in 1949 discontinued its use in favor of [Occoquan Reservoir](/source/Occoquan_Reservoir). ==Physical description== As an urban river, Holmes Run has in places been heavily [channelized](/source/River_engineering), but also significant portions have been developed as [urban greenspace](/source/Urban_open_space) as [Holmes Run Trail](/source/Holmes_Run_Trail). Above [Lake Barcroft](/source/Lake_Barcroft%2C_Virginia) its route makes up the border of [West Falls Church](/source/West_Falls_Church%2C_Virginia) and [Annandale](/source/Annandale%2C_Virginia). ==See also== *[List of crossings of Holmes Run](/source/List_of_crossings_of_Cameron_Run) ==References== {{Reflist|30em}} ===Bibliography=== * {{cite book |last1=Bracken |first1=Anthony |last2=Finley |first2=Stuart |date=2001 |title=Lake Barcroft History |url=http://www.lakebarcroft.org/docs/community/LakeBarcroftHistory.pdf |location=Falls Church, Va. |publisher=Watershed Improvement District |isbn=0-615-11978-6 |access-date=2017-10-06 |archive-date=2013-11-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131107062022/http://www.lakebarcroft.org/docs/community/LakeBarcroftHistory.pdf |url-status=dead }} * {{cite journal |last1=Bryant |first1=M. Margaret |date=April 2006 |title=Urban Landscape Conservation and the Role of Ecological Greenways at Local and Metropolitan Scales |journal=Landscape and Urban Planning |volume=76 |issue=1–4 |pages=23–44 |doi=10.1016/j.landurbplan.2004.09.029}} * {{cite report |author=Versar, Inc. |date=August 2007 |title=Cameron Run Watershed Management Plan |url=https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpwes/watersheds/cameronrun.htm |publisher=Fairfax County Stormwater Planning Division, Department of Public Works and Environmental Services}} {{Potomac River System}} {{authority control}} Category:Rivers of Fairfax County, Virginia Category:Rivers of Alexandria, Virginia Category:Rivers of Virginia Category:Tributaries of the Potomac River --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Holmes Run](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmes_Run) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmes_Run?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.