HIKING VIRGINIA

Land and history are interwoven throughout Great Falls Park–the spot where George Washington championed a canal to skirt the Potomac River’s 77-foot “great falls.” This may be metropolitan DC, but beyond the crowds, you can find small reminders of a time when our nation’s capital was a tidal backwater and our country’s survival wasn’t assured. Stones in a restored canal wall bear inscriptions unique to the masons who built it. Ruins of old chimneys and homes in Matildaville mark the boomtown that lived and died on hopes that the Patowmack Canal would succeed. For a time it did succeed, ferrying farm goods from western lands to eastern seaports. Then it went bankrupt, leaving us with canal ruins, inspired views over Mather Gorge, wildflowers that bloom spring through fall, and a moment of solitude.

THE RUNDOWN

Start: Park visitor center

Distance: 5.1-mile loop

Hiking time: 2-3 hours

Difficulty: Easy; well-traveled trails with a few short, steep sections along the Potomac

Trail surface: Rocky cliff tops, dirt footpaths, dirt roads, riverside trails, hardwood forests, and marsh

Land status: National park

Nearest town: Great Falls, VA

Other trail users: Joggers, crosscountry skiers, equestrians, mountain bikers, and rock climbers

Accessibility: Overlooks 2 and 3 are fully accessible, as is the Patowmack Canal Trail to the Holding Basin and the guard gate.

Canine compatibility: Leashed dogs permitted

Trail contact: Great Falls Park, Great Falls, (703) 757-3101, www.nps.gov/grfa

Schedule: Open daily, 7 a.m. to sunset, except Christmas. Note: During weekends and holidays in good weather, there can be long wait times to enter this popular park. Consider coming early or late.

Fees/permits: Entrance fee, good for 3 days and access to Maryland’s C&O Canal National Historical Park. A state fishing license is required to fish in the park.

Facilities/features: Visitor center with museum and children’s room, snack bar, restrooms, and picnic facilities

NatGeo TOPO! map: Vienna, Falls Church

From I-495, take exit 44 and turn left onto Georgetown Pike/VA 193 west. Go 4.4 miles and turn right onto Old Dominion Drive. Go 0.9 mile to the park. GPS: N38 59.820′ / W77 15.277′. DeLorme: Virginia Atlas & Gazetteer: Page 76, A3.

On a spring afternoon, an eagle soars above craggy Potomac River rocks below Great Falls, a 77-foot vertical drop of thunder, mist, and frothing water. The raptor dips and alights on the south wall of Mather Gorge. Upended boulders show distinct layers of compressed rock that built the gorge millions of years ago. Spleenwort ferns grow thick here, where the River Trail cuts dangerously close to the cliff edge. Lined with pink spring beauties in May, this 1.5-mile route follows an up-and-down course, eventually reaching river level at the far southern end of the park. It gets heavy use, with side trails leading to gorgeous overlooks of the waterfalls. Beyond these points, however, foot traffic dwindles and the River Trail becomes a nice conduit to the less crowded areas in the park’s southern reaches.

It should be expected that a park 20 miles from the nation’s capital attracts a large number of visitors. Kayakers test their mettle in the surf below the falls. Rock climbers dangle off Birds Nest, one of the many mapped climbs on the cliffs of Mather Gorge. Joggers use the wide Matildaville Trail and Old Carriage Road. Painters set up easel and palette along Falls Overlook Trail. Picnickers lounge in grassy fields under shady red oaks.

All the activity makes the Swamp Trail—in the southern section of the park—that much more attractive. It’s a hiker-only path that branches off the Ridge Trail. From a slight hill, it drops through a forest of tulip poplar and beech and reaches a swampy confluence of unnamed streams. Sluggish and meandering, the streams support a lush undergrowth of wood fern and wildflowers. Concave green trillium leaves spread across a widening forest floor. It’s unusual to see this wildflower in such great numbers east of the Blue Ridge, but it thrives in these wet conditions nonetheless. In fact, on this brief stretch of trail, plant life approaches the variety typical of an Appalachian cove—a forest type defined by its wet, sheltered climate and diversity of trees and plants. Eastern hemlock, white basswood, tulip poplar—with a little sleuthing, you’ll find representatives of each tree along the Swamp Trail.

The priceless scenery and ecological diversity we enjoy today were viewed by James Rumsey as merely supplies. Rumsey came to Great Falls in 1785 as the overseer of construction on the Patowmack Canal, handpicked by George Washington and carrying tremendous expectations. From hophornbeam trees, Rumsey’s workers fashioned tool handles. White oak trees fell to make planks for supply boats. Masons carved canal walls out of the bedrock. They inscribed finished blocks with a unique symbol to ensure they could document their work for pay.

Canal Cut, the final descent on the Great Falls skirting canal, drops 76 feet through solid rock in Mather Gorge. Considered an engineering marvel in its time, the canal— and especially this last passage—evolved painfully. Dynamite was a discovery some 80 years away, so workers on the Patowmack Canal hand-drilled boreholes, poured in black powder, and ignited the volatile mix. If dust particles exploded prematurely, few within range survived. Despite the difficulties in building the canal, George Washington believed the Potomac River, with its long reach from the coast into western farmlands, would serve as a great unifier for a young nation. He wasn’t the first or the last to view the river as a means to an end. From the day Captain John Smith ventured up the Potomac to Little Falls (near present-day Georgetown), Americans have had their way with this river. Explorers, canal builders, farmers, miners, theme-park promoters—each has left a mark. Today various agencies, commissions, and nonprofits pursue watershed protection and monitor stream pollutants. Industries and farms situated in the Potomac’s massive four-state, 15,000-square-mile river basin discharge pollutants into its tributaries daily. Along the southern shores of the middle Potomac, northern Virginia continues to grow every year. Housing subdivisions gobble up land on such small tributaries as Bullneck Run, Pimmit Run, and Difficult Run.

But as Washington’s Patowmack Canal illustrates all too well, the river has the final say. Despite herculean efforts, seasonal fluctuations in water levels made the canal operable only a few months during the year. It declared bankruptcy in 1828.

For 26 years the Great Falls Canal moved thousands of pounds of flour, corn, livestock, and farm goods from western territories to eastern ports. Each boat that passed through finished its journey by dropping through Canal Cut. This same passage today bears little resemblance to its heyday. Trees cling to the hard-hewn cliff walls. Weeds grow everywhere. And beyond it all, the Potomac, America’s river, keeps on rolling.

MILES AND DIRECTIONS

0.0Start from the park visitor center. Walk around the building on a wide, graded path of dirt and crushed rock. Where the path splits, bear right (southeast). Once past the visitor center, turn left (east) onto Falls Overlook Trail, which leads past Overlooks 1, 2, and 3.

0.2Bear left (southeast) onto blue-blazed River Trail. The route starts out as a wide dirt path, then narrows into a rocky footpath. Note: The trail straight from this junction is the Patowmack Canal Trail and marks the return portion of this hike.

0.5Turn left (east) at a four-way trail intersection and descend a set of stairs to the edge of the Potomac. When you’re finished exploring, return to this junction and turn left (east) to resume hiking the River Trail.

0.8Turn right (west) on a dirt footpath for a detour around Canal Cut. Cross two boardwalks, and then turn left (south). Within 0.1 mile, the route returns to follow the cliffs high above Mather Gorge.

1.2Cross straight over a paved service road and reenter woods opposite. Stay alert over the next 0.1 mile when River Trail runs close and parallel to the Matildaville Trail on the right.

1.4Look for remains of a redbrick fireplace off the left side of the trail. A few hundred yards beyond this, look downhill to the left, where a sandy beach is visible. The trail here crosses exposed rock, and footing is tough and technical as you come to Cow Hoof Rock. This promontory is your last chance to catch stellar views of the Potomac as it flows through Mather Gorge.

1.6A steep climb ends at a T junction with Ridge Trail. Turn left (south) onto Ridge, which is a wide dirt road.

2.1Turn right (south) and descend to Difficult Run Trail. In 0.1 miles, reach Difficult Run Trail and turn right (north) on a wide road of hard-packed dirt and gravel. Option: Stay straight at this right turn in Ridge Trail. A steep footpath dives off the hillside to reach Difficult Run near its confluence with the Potomac. This short, steep descent is a bushwhack on an unmarked trail. If you chose this route, descend to Difficult Run at its confluence with the Potomac River and turn right.

2.8Turn right (north) on an unmarked footpath that climbs steeply uphill. Note: This is a bushwhack on an established but unmarked trail. There are no trail signs or blazes at this junction. Prior to reaching it, look for a clearing on the right side of the trail that has the appearance of an old quarry–or a severely eroded hillside. If you reach Georgetown Pike, you’ve gone too far; turn and retrace your steps.

3.0Veer left (north) onto Ridge Trail and descend in 0.1 mile to a junction with Old Carriage Road. Cross straight over the road and climb.

3.2Turn right (north) onto the Swamp Trail Connector.

3.5Turn left (northwest) onto Swamp Trail. Note: This junction may not be marked, and the trail straight ahead (leading to Old Carriage Road) seems like the more obvious route. Swamp Trail is a singletrack woodland path, while the spur is a wide, grassy path elevated above the low, wet ground on a berm.

3.9Turn left (north) onto Old Carriage Road.

4.1Turn right (south) onto Matildaville Trail. There is a restroom a few feet north of this junction.

4.3Veer left and downhill where Matildaville Trail branches right and enters the woods as a narrow footpath. Descend to a T junction with Patowmack Canal Trail. Turn right and follow the old canal route to Lock 1. After exploring the ruins, return to this junction and continue straight (north) on Patowmack Canal Trail. Look for side trails on the left that lead to ruins of the canal superintendent’s home and other Matildaville homes.

4.6Turn right at a fork in Patowmack Trail and cross the canal’s holding basin. Within a few feet, a footbridge spans a small creek that was dug to control water levels in the holding basin. Beyond this footbridge, continue straight past a trail on the right that descends on a set of stairs to River Trail.

4.7Stay straight as a leg of Patowmack Canal Trail merges on the right.

5.1Arrive back at the visitor center

Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, Vienna, (703) 255-1800, www.nps.gov/wotr. National park dedicated to performing arts. Three different facilities offer year-round performances. The Theater in the Woods is geared especially toward children.

Arlington and Alexandria Bed & Breakfast Network, (703) 549-3415, www.aabbn.com. Assists with reservations for area bed-and-breakfasts.

Old Brogue Irish Pub, Great Falls, (703) 759-3309, www.oldbrogue.com. Traditional Irish fare and live entertainment.

Deli Italiano, Great Falls, (703) 759-6782, www.deliitaliano.com. Grab a sandwich before heading into the park, or a slice of pizza afterward.

Park staff lead nature and historical tours throughout the year. See the schedule of events at www.nps.gov/grfa or call (703) 285-2965 for information.

Fairfax Trails & Streams, www.fairfaxtrails.org. Champion of the Pimmit Run Trail and Fairfax Cross-County Trail, with links to other northern Virginia hiking and preservation efforts.

Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Sharpsburg, MD, (301) 739-4200, www.nps.gov/choh. The C&O Canal along the Potomac River in Maryland succeeded where Washington’s Patowmack Canal failed by linking farm markets west of the Appalachians to eastern seaports.

Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC), Vienna, (703) 242-0315, www.patc.net. Contact for maps, book orders, cabin rentals, scheduled hikes, and membership. PATC Map D covers Great Falls and vicinity.

9. GREAT FALLS PARK