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Trip from Arlington, VA to Potomac Mills, VA

Compiled and reviewed by the Trip.ovh planning team at COD Solutions Oy · Last reviewed Apr 17, 2026 · Editorial standards

Drive Time

35m

Distance

22.8 mi

37 km

Drive Score

6/10

Good drive

Same Day?

Yes, doable

Fuel Cost

$4

one way

EV Charging

Good

8 stations

Best Time to Leave

Save up to 9 min
4 AM
0h 32m ★
6 AM
0h 35m
8 AM
0h 41m
10 AM
0h 38m
12 PM
0h 37m
3 PM
0h 38m
5 PM
0h 41m
8 PM
0h 34m

Estimated drive times based on typical traffic patterns. Actual times may vary with weather, construction, and real-time conditions.

Best Time Drive vs Fly
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Downtown Arlington, VA, VA

Arlington, VA

Dominik Gryzbon

Downtown Potomac Mills, VA, VA

Potomac Mills, VA

Mark Stebnicki

Trip Overview

The drive from Arlington, VA to Potomac Mills, VA covers 22.8 miles and takes about 35m behind the wheel. This route is realistic as a one-day drive if you keep your stops efficient.

The route leans on Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway, North Glebe Road, Prince William Parkway for much of the mileage, and the overall profile is turn-heavy local drive. The longest uninterrupted segment is about 17.6 miles on Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway. At current regular gas prices, budget about $3.57 one way before food or hotel costs.

Who Is This Route For?

Weekend Trip

Doable as a same-day drive at 35m. Total distance: 22.8 miles.

Family Friendly

Moderate complexity with 0 natural rest stops along the way.

Solo Traveler

35m drive, comfortable solo distance.

EV Driver

0 DC fast chargers along the route. Coverage: unknown.

Scenic Drive

Turn-heavy local drive route profile with national parks nearby.

Drive Character

Expect a 35m drive with frequent turns across 22.8 miles of local and secondary roads.

This route has more turning and local-road decision points than a simple highway run.
There are about 17 navigation steps in the underlying route data, so the final approach matters more than the middle miles.
Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway is the longest continuous segment at about 17.6 miles.

How Hard Is This Drive?

Expect a hands-on drive with frequent turns and local roads rather than long highway stretches. This route has several spots where lane changes, forks, or exits need your full attention. The trickiest moment comes around 3.3 miles in.

Driving Effort 9/10

Focused - lots of decisions in a short distance, but it is over quickly

Balances navigation complexity with total wheel time.

This is a short but busy drive. With 15 decision points packed into just 22.8 miles, you will need to pay attention to lane changes and exits — but the whole thing is over in 35m.

Where does it get tricky?

The main spots that need attention: at 3.3 miles: Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Multiple destination signs - pick the right one; at 3.4 miles: Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Lane positioning matters here; at 3.5 miles (I 395 / Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway): Merge point - match speed before joining. Lane positioning matters here.

Critical Maneuvers

5 of 15 key points

These are the spots where you need to pay the most attention. Preview them before you drive.

6
3.3 mi into trip | ~8m in

Keep slight left at fork toward I 395 South: Richmond, Quaker Lane

Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Multiple destination signs - pick the right one

Toward I 395 South: Richmond, Quaker Lane
8
3.4 mi into trip | ~9m in

Keep slight left at fork toward I 395 South: Richmond

Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Lane positioning matters here

Use the slight left lane. Toward I 395 South: Richmond
5
3.5 mi into trip | ~9m in | I 395 / Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway

Merge onto I 395 / Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway

Merge point - match speed before joining. Lane positioning matters here

Use the straight / slight right lanes.
8
21.1 mi into trip | ~31m in

Take the exit toward VA 294 West: Prince William Parkway, Manassas, Potomac Mills, Strayer University Woodbridge Campus

Exit ramp - move to the correct lane early. Lane positioning matters here. Multiple destination signs - pick the right one

Use the slight right lane. Exit 158B Toward VA 294 West: Prince William Parkway, Man...
6
22.6 mi into trip | ~34m in | Potomac Mills Circle

At end of road, turn right onto Potomac Mills Circle

Lane positioning matters here

Use the right lane.

Towns Mentioned on Route Signs

Based on OSRM destination-sign hints, not a full list of every settlement the road passes.

Between Arlington, VA and Potomac Mills, VA, road signs point toward Manassas and Strayer University Woodbridge Campus.

Manassas

21.1 mi in | ~31m

Strayer University Woodbridge Campus

21.1 mi in | ~31m

Main Roads

Road Distance Duration
Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway 17.6 mi 21m
North Glebe Road 2.4 mi 6m
Prince William Parkway 0.9 mi 1m
North Oakland Street 0.4 mi 1m
Worth Avenue 0.4 mi 1m
North Pershing Drive 0.1 mi <1m
Potomac Mills Circle <0.1 mi <1m
Wilson Boulevard <0.1 mi <1m
Longest stretch: Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway — 17.6 mi, about 21m

Turn-by-Turn Driving Directions

Step-by-step road directions between Arlington, VA and Potomac Mills, VA.

1

Start on Wilson Boulevard

90 ft · 8 sec · Wilson Boulevard
2

Turn right onto North Oakland Street

0.4 mi · 1 min · North Oakland Street
3

Turn right onto North Pershing Drive

0.1 mi · 28 sec · North Pershing Drive
4

Turn left onto VA 120

2.4 mi · 6 min · North Glebe Road
Use the left / straight lanes.
5

Take the ramp

0.3 mi · 41 sec
Toward I 395 South: Richmond
6

Keep slight left at fork

315 ft · 7 sec
Toward I 395 South: Richmond, Quaker Lane
7

Keep slight left at fork

0.2 mi · 20 sec
Toward I 395 South: Richmond Use the slight left lane.
8

Merge onto I 395

5.8 mi · 7 min · Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway
Use the straight / slight right lanes.
9

Continue on I 395

12 mi · 14 min · Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway
Exit 1A Toward I 95 South: Richmond Use the straight / slight right lanes.
10

Take the exit

0.3 mi · 44 sec
Exit 158B Toward VA 294 West: Prince William Parkway, Manassas, Potomac Mills, Strayer University Woodbridge Campus Use the slight right lane.
11

Merge onto VA 294

0.9 mi · 1 min · Prince William Parkway
Use the left lane.
12

Turn left onto SR 2832

0.4 mi · 1 min · Worth Avenue
Use the left lane.
13

At end of road, turn right onto Potomac Mills Circle

339 ft · 17 sec · Potomac Mills Circle
Use the right lane.
14

Turn left

65 ft · 8 sec
15

Turn left

365 ft · 27 sec
16

Turn right

76 ft · 5 sec
17

Arrive at destination

Fuel & Cost

Regular Gas

$3.57 one way

$7.13 round trip

$3.97/gal 25.4 MPG avg 8 kg CO2
Fuel Type $/gal One Way Round Trip
midgrade $4.34 $3.90 $7.80
premium $4.70 $4.22 $8.44
diesel $5.61 $5.03 $10.07

No toll roads detected on this route.

Drive Cost (one way)

Fuel

$4

Estimated CO2 emission: 8 kg one way. Prices: EIA weekly data, 2026-04-13.

Driving Electric?

About $2 in charging · 0 stops · 63% less CO2

Vehicle Type kWh Stops DC Fast Home Charge
Average EV 6.8 0 $2.39 $1.09
Efficient EV 5.7 0 $1.99 $0.91
EV Truck/SUV 9.1 0 $3.19 $1.46

Gas CO2

8 kg

EV CO2

3 kg (63% less)

This trip is well within single-charge range for most EVs. No charging stops needed if you start fully charged.

DC fast charging avg $0.35/kWh. Home charging avg $0.16/kWh. US grid CO2: 0.39 kg/kWh.

Travel Intel

Current conditions at both ends of the drive.

Forecast as of Apr 16, 2026

Origin

Arlington, VA

Morning in Arlington on Friday

Local time

8:32 AM

EDT

Current temp

94°F

Mostly Sunny

SW 3 to 14 mph 1% chance Live forecast

Red Flag Warning

Red Flag Warning issued April 16 at 9:43AM EDT until April 16 at 7:00PM EDT by NWS Baltimore MD/Washington DC

Special Weather Statement

Special Weather Statement issued April 16 at 5:34AM EDT by NWS Wakefield VA

Destination

Potomac Mills, VA

Morning in Potomac Mills on Friday

Local time

8:32 AM

EDT

Current temp

50°F

Unavailable

Live forecast

Time zone

Same local time

Origin and destination are on the same clock, so arrival timing is easier to judge at a glance.

Temperature spread

44 degrees cooler at arrival

A meaningful temperature swing is a good cue to rethink layers, water, and how soon you want to arrive.

Road read

35m on the road

The weather snapshot is not static. If you are leaving later, give both cities one more quick forecast check before departure.

Weather data from the National Weather Service. Conditions may change; check closer to your travel date.

Frequently Asked Questions

The drive from Arlington, VA to Potomac Mills, VA covers 22.8 miles and takes about 35m without stops. Add 15-30 minutes for a fuel or rest stop on longer drives.

The main roads are Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway, North Glebe Road, Prince William Parkway. Expect a mix of highway and local road driving.

This is a comfortable same-day trip.

The midpoint is about 11.4 miles from Arlington, VA. Look for rest areas, gas stations, or food options near the halfway mark.

At current regular gas prices, expect to spend about $3.57 one way. This estimate uses 25.4 MPG — your actual cost will vary with your vehicle's fuel efficiency and current gas prices.

Leave by 9 AM and you'll arrive before lunch. Even a 4 PM departure gets you there before dark in summer.

This is a short but busy drive. With 15 decision points packed into just 22.8 miles, you will need to pay attention to lane changes and exits — but the whole thing is over in 35m.

The main spots that need attention: at 3.3 miles: Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Multiple destination signs - pick the right one; at 3.4 miles: Highway fork - watch signs carefully. Lane positioning matters here; at 3.5 miles (I 395 / Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway): Merge point - match speed before joining. Lane positioning matters here.

Between Arlington, VA and Potomac Mills, VA, road signs point toward Manassas and Strayer University Woodbridge Campus.

Yes. Nearby national parks include Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail.

How this page is built

Compiled and maintained by the Trip.ovh planning team at COD Solutions Oy (Helsinki). Each route is built from authoritative open government and mapping datasets rather than crowdsourced reviews. Distances and geometry come from OSRM over OpenStreetMap. Fuel cost uses EIA weekly regional averages. National park proximity is from the NPS API. Pages are published only after passing our data-quality checks; our methodology page documents refresh cadence, editorial standards, and known limitations.

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