The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, Great Falls Tavern, Potomac, MD, US - Part 1
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Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center is open year round, seven days per week from 9 AM to 4:30 PM.
The Great Falls of the Potomac have drawn people to the river's shore for centuries. To Native Americans it was a gathering place, to George Washington it was an impediment to navigation, to thousands of visitors every year it is a awe-inspiring site.
Tourists have been drawn to the Great Falls of the Potomac long before there was a canal. The Great Falls Tavern carries on a long tradition of hospitality for visitors to the C&O Canal.
Great Falls Hike Maryland / Virginia Potomac River
Instagram @ RVA Hiker Girl
Amazing powerful Potomac River over these falls. It is a must see! Go to the Virginia side or the Maryland side, the views are tremendous in either state. The Billy Goat Trail is DIFFICULT in certain sections and you are climbing rocks on very narrow ledges and on steep inclines. 400 rescues a year are made from people getting hurt so please be careful. So worth the drive there - you won't be disappointed.
I started in the parking lot in Maryland in the Chesapeake and Ohio Tavern Visitors Center. I took the Billy Goat Trail to the C&O trail. It was an 8.6 mile hike this route. It can get very crowded - go early and go during the week.
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Great Falls on the Potomac
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Great Falls is located in the C&O canal national park a few miles west of Washington DC. After parking in the visitor parking area we walked past the Great Falls Tavern and C&O Canal visitor center and then over to the canal tow path. Once on the tow path we walked east (down stream) to the over look trail that extends out into the Potomac River onto islands. The views of the river and the swift moving white water are among some of the best views you can find on the east cost and certainly on the Potomac River. While in the area of this over look trail we took time to explore the trail head of the Billy Goat Trail A.
C&O Canal Montgomery County Maryland
The C&O Canal is one of the country's great national treasures. And luckily for residents here, it travels the entire southeastern border of Montgomery County.
The canal is easily one of our favorite places here. When you're on the towpath, you feel like you're in the middle of wilderness - far away from one of the country's biggest metropolitan areas. It's an amazing recreation area with a fascinating history.
The C&O canal starts in Georgetown. When construction kicked-off in 1828, the original plan was to build a smooth ribbon of flat water all the way to Pittsburgh - 460 miles away. Ultimately - unforgiving terrain, engineering challenges, floods and the rise of the railroad reduced it to 184 miles ending in Cumberland, Maryland.
The canal was left to neglect in the 1920s and was constantly threatened by road projects and development. It took the hard work of many preservationists and a supreme court justice to help the public appreciate just how special this place is.
Now, as a national park, the canal is perfect for a run, family walk, fishing, bike rides and more. There's a lot to see at Great Falls in Potomac - the Great Falls Tavern, a working barge, and the actual Great Falls on the Potomac River. From here you can also access one of our area's very best hikes - the Billy Goat Trail.
There's other access points to the canal all along the Clara Barton Parkway, Macarthur Blvd and River Road. The scenery and vistas change throughout the canal in Montgomery County, so you're always rewarded by checking out different locks. It's a pretty awesome place that's worth visiting as often as you can.
Learn more about parks in Montgomery County -
Great Falls Park | The Best Places to visit in MacLean, Virginia USA | Travel Guide
Explore one of the nation's first canals, see the Great Falls of the Potomac, enjoy a hike along Mather Gorge's dramatic clifftops, and explore the museum exhibits and park film in the visitor center. You can do all of these things and more at Great Falls Park. These pages have information that will help you plan your trip.
Great Falls Park is a small National Park Service (NPS) site in in MacLean, North Virginia, United States. Situated on 800 acres (3.65 km2) along the banks of the Potomac River in northern Fairfax County, the park is a disconnected but integral part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway.[1] The Great Falls of the Potomac River are near the northern boundary of the park, as are the remains of the Patowmack Canal, the first canal in the United States that used locks to raise and lower boats.
McLean is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. McLean is home to many diplomats, businessmen, members of Congress, and high-ranking government officials partially due to its proximity to Washington, D.C. and the Central Intelligence Agency.
Things to do
1- Glenstone Museum:
Guided by the personal vision of its founders, Glenstone assembles post-World War II artworks of the highest quality that trace the greatest historical shifts in the way we experience and understand art of the 20th and 21st centuries. These works are presented in a series of refined indoor and outdoor spaces designed to facilitate meaningful encounters for our visitors. Admission is always free.
Wolf Trap National Park: | Vienna - VA
Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, is a performing arts center located on 117 acres of national park land in Fairfax County, Virginia, near the town of Vienna.
Meadowlark Botanical Gardens: | Vienna
are botanical gardens and an event venue located at 9750 Meadowlark Gardens Court, in Vienna, Virginia. They are open daily except for major holidays and ice; an admission fee is charged. Photography is allowed when a proper reservation has been made, additional fees paid and pass issued.
Seneca Creek State Park | Gaithersburg
is a public recreation area encompassing more than 6,300 acres along 14 miles of Seneca Creek in its run to the Potomac River in Montgomery County, Maryland. The park features facilities for boating and fishing as well as trails for hiking, cycling, and horseback riding.
The Brookside Gardens | Wheaton
are public gardens located within Wheaton Regional Park, at 1800 Glenallan Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland. The gardens themselves are open daily without charge. However, certain annual events there are held that may charge a fee.
Riverbend Park | Potomac Hill St
The Potomac River cuts through this park which offers hiking, fishing, canoeing & other activities.
Scott's Run Nature Preserve | McLean
is a nature preserve in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in McLean, it is bordered by Virginia State Route 193 to its south, Interstate 495 to its east and the Potomac River to its north.
The Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center:
is one of six visitor centers for the C&O Canal National Historical Park, a unit of the National Park System.
This place has unbelievable beauty, it is exquisite, and I find I feel so restored when I visit it. It can be for a short or long walks, for hiking or kayaking or simply to breathe fresh air. It is sublime!
Clemyjontri Park:
is a 2-acre park in McLean, Virginia, opened in 2006, which boasts a setting for children of all abilities to congregate. It is located at 6317 Georgetown Pike. It includes a carousel and walking trails, Additional parking is available at Langley Fork Park across Georgetown Pike.
Ron and Janet's Wedding at Great Falls, Maryland
Janet Lesley (Brown) is now wed to Ron Powers and goes by the name Janet Lesley Powers.
Our wedding was officiated by Pastor Andy Gingrich on May 20th 2015 at Great Falls, Maryland at the overlook on Olmsted Island, C&O Canal National Park, Potomac, MD.
Great falls! National park! Национальный парк Great Falls)!
Great falls park in Virginia, historical park)! Отличный день и велосипедная прогулка в Национальном парке штата Вирджиния!
Great Falls Park Virginia
Kevin McCarthy's interns visit one of Virgnia's gems at Great Falls! Plan your visit here at nps.gov/grfa.
Take a boat ride on the C&O Canal!
Take a trip back in time to the 1870's! Ride along the historic C&O Canal in a boat pulled by mules. Experience rising 8 feet in a lock. Hear park rangers in period clothing describe what life was like for the people who lived and worked floating on the canal.
Purchase tickets and board the boat at the Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center at 11710 MacArthur Blvd., Potomac MD 20854.
For more information on other heritage areas in Montgomery County, visit:
Certified Maryland Heritage Area:
Billy Goat Trail - Section A
The Billy Goat Trail is a popular hiking trail that follows a route between the C&O Canal towpath and the Potomac River within the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park in Great Falls, Maryland.
The YMCA Triangle Club first laid out the Billy Goat Trail in 1919. It has three sections, named Section A, B, & C, connected together by a towpath that follows along the canal.
Section A is the northernmost and longest section of the trail at 1.7 miles. It is also the most popular.
Most of Section A is on Bear Island and covers rough and rocky terrain, including a steep climb along a cliff face next to the Potomac River's Mather Gorge. At other points in the trail, hikers are required to scramble over and around huge boulders.
Section A is the most technical, strenuous, and dangerous of the three sections. The area gets about 400 rescue calls every year and about three to four people die.
The rescue calls are usually from falls, heat exhaustion, animal encounters and cardiac events, but most of the calls and deaths every year are water related.
The Billy Goat Trail meets the Potomac River and several points along its path. The water appears calm but is notoriously deceptive. No swimming is allowed.
It takes most hikers about 2.5 hours to complete the Section A loop. Hikers who access Section A usually do it from the Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center inside the park. There is $10 fee to enter the park.
Section B is 1.4 miles and considered a moderate hike. The southernmost Section C is 1.6 miles and considered an easy hike. Those sections are best accessed from Carderock, Maryland. Parking there is free, but fills up quickly.
All sections of the Billy Goat Trail are marked with light blue trail blazes on trees and boulders, but the sections do not connect directly with each other. They are connected to each other by the C&O Canal towpath. The end of Section C is about 2.75 miles southeast along the towpath from the starting point of Section A.
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and towpath extend along the Potomac River from Georgetown, Washington, D.C., to Cumberland, Maryland, a distance of 184.5 miles. The original plans had the canal and path extending from the Chesapeake Bay to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
It operated from 1831 until 1924 its principal cargo was coal from the Allegheny Mountains to Washington, D.C.
Previously the area was used by George Washington’s Potowmack Company to improve the navigability of the Potomac River. His company built five skirting canals around the Great Falls on the Virginia side of the Potomac before it was incorporated by the Chesapeake and Ohio.
The canal, path and its structures slowly fell in to disrepair after the 1870s, when the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad became a cheaper, more reliable alternative way to transport cargo. The area deteriorated even more after the major floods of 1924 and 1936.
Flooding is frequent in this watershed and can be caused by heavy rain, rapid snowmelt, and hurricanes. All water from Potomac and Shenandoah rivers passes over Great Falls before it enters the Chesapeake Bay.
The water narrows dramatically just below the Falls and creates a chokepoint that regularly floods the basin and surrounding area.
This flooding plays an important role in Great Falls’ ecosystem. Plants depend on floods to spread fertile sediment and transport seeds and without those waters, the unique cliff top ecosystems would not exist.
Plants such as sticky goldenrod and bluestem grass thrive in the harsh cliff top environment. These attract over 150 different species of birds as well as whitetail deer, fox, turtles, coyotes, bats, and snakes.
In 1961 the area was designated as a National Monument by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in order to preserve the neglected remains of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and many of its original structures. By 1971 it was named a National Historic Park.
Both the National Park Service and volunteer associations extensively restored the area and continue to maintain it today. Sections of the canal and path are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Today the canal and its towpath along with the adjacent Potomac offers activities including running, hiking, biking, fishing, boating and kayaking, as well as rock climbing in certain locations. A small portion of the towpath near Harpers Ferry National Historical Park even doubles as a section of the Appalachian Trail.
For those wanting to experience the entire path, The National Park Service maintains a number of hiker/biker campsites, about every few miles. Each site has potable water, picnic tables, fire pits, and latrines.
Some text from Wikipedia and the National Park Service
Music by Andy G. Cohen and found at the Free Music Archive
Great Falls National Park - Walking trail on Maryland Side and C&O Canal, Christmas Day
Great Falls National Park - Walking trail on Maryland Side, Christmas Day. 12/25/2011 Washington D.C. C&O Canal
Great Falls
View of Great Falls around Olmsted Island and the Billy Goat Trail, May 2014, after three days of heavy rain.
C & O Canal Lock 20 - Great Falls Tavern, Maryland
C & O Canal Lock 20 - Great Falls Tavern, Maryland
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J. Scott Shipe produced this video for educational purposes / questions regarding the content please contact jssh2o@aol.com REMEMBER WATER MATTERS!
Prince William Forest Park NPS
Developed as a summer camp during the Great Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps. During WWII the park, adjacent to Quantico Marine Corps base, was utilized as a training facility by the OSS the precursor of the CIA. Interview with National Park Ranger & Chief of Interpretation, Laura Cohen from radio show aired over NPR affiliates KCBX, KSBX, KNBX. Historic images courtesy of Prince William Forest Park NPS.
Remain Safe on the Billy Goat Trail!
Safety along the Billy Goat Trail located near the Great Falls Tavern (Milepost 14.4) is important when hiking this exciting location along the C&O Canal. As a reminder, please allow enough time to finish your entire hike before sunset, be prepared for environmental extremes, carry adequate fluids, wear appropriate footwear, and be aware of your location.
(Video Credit: Andrew Shankman, cinematographer; David Moss, photographer; Jen Dickey, editor)
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Harper's Ferry West Virginia is visited on this edition of Road Trip to History.
The Assassination of President Lincoln Its Immediate Aftermath and Brief History of Ford’s Theatre
Learn about the history of Ford’s Theatre in the federal city and the major events during the Civil War that relate to John Wilkes Booth and the assassination of President Lincoln. National Park Service Historian and Education Coordinator Eric Martin discusses the immediate aftermath of the assassination, 150 years ago on April 14, 1865, including the ultimate fate of John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirators.
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Longstreet & Huger: The Battle of Seven Pines (Lecture)
The battle of Seven Pines cannot be considered a Confederate success. Who was to blame? Was it James Longstreet, Benjamin Huger, or someone else? This Program will examine some of charges and counter-charges made at the time and in the years since the battle and will explore how historians have interpreted the event.