Waiting for Paw Paw Fruit - Mason Neck State Park

Two years in a row I have stumbled upon ripe paw paw fruit on Leesylvania State Park's Lee's Woods trail. This morning my 3 year old looked up at the trees near the playground picnic tables at Mason Neck State Park and called my attention to the fruit dangling in a stand of three trees grouped together in a row. She found some early paw paw fruit dangling green on the vine. We will have to keep watch on this fruit as it ripens because the animals will get it immediately if it falls.

Here's some ripe paw paw fruit from August of 2012 that shows what we are looking for: