Great Falls (Potomac River)

Great Falls
View of the Great Falls from Virginia
Location	Potomac River
Type	Cascade
Total height	76 ft
Watercourse	Potomac River

Great Falls in black and white.

File:Falls of the Potomac Plate VIII WBClark 1897.jpg

The falls in about 1897

The Great Falls of the Potomac River are located above the fall line of the Potomac River, 14 miles (23 km) upstream from Washington, D.C. Great Falls Park, operated by the National Park Service, is located on the southern banks in Virginia, while Chesapeake and Ohio Canal parkland is located along the northern banks of the river in Maryland. The Potomac and the falls themselves are within Maryland.

Scenic views are offered on both the Maryland side and the Virginia side. The Billy Goat Trail on Bear Island, accessible from Maryland, offers scenic views of the Great Falls, as do vantage points on Olmsted Island (also accessible from Maryland). There are overlook points on the Virginia side.

The Great Falls area is popular for outdoor activities such as kayaking, whitewater rafting, rock climbing, and hiking.

History

Roughly 35,000 years ago, the Potomac River began carving out the Great Falls of the Potomac. The river cascades over a series of 20-foot (6.1 m) falls, falling a total of 76 feet (23 m) in elevation over a distance of less than 1 mile (1.6 km), making the Great Falls the steepest fall line rapids of any river in the eastern United States.

The Potomac narrows significantly as it passes over the falls and through Mather Gorge. Heavy rain or snow in the watershed upstream causes white-water floods which entirely submerge the rocks and even threaten the adjacent park visitor center (built on stilts for this reason). A pillar at the Virginia overlook, well above the river, marks the level of the 1936 Potomac Flood.

The rocks which form the falls and river gorge are a strongly metamorphized schist.

Multimedia

• GreatFallsPotomacPanorama.jpg

  Great Falls panorama from Virginia

• Potomac Great Falls panorama (from Maryland).jpg

  Great Falls panorama from Maryland

File:Great Falls of the Potomac River January 2014.webm

Great Falls of the Potomac River, between Virginia and Maryland in the United States. January 1, 2014

Canals

File:Great Falls Feeder Dam (defunct) at approx 14.12 mi for Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.jpg

Remains of the feeder dam, for the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, at Great Falls

Various attempts to build canals around Great Falls were undertaken. The remains of the Patowmack Canal on the Virginia side, were an early attempt to skirt the falls, using 5 locks. That canal was started by George Washington. Later the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal was built on the Maryland side of the falls, and ultimately connected the Potomac tidewater with Cumberland, Maryland. The Chesapeake and Ohio also used the Great Falls as a feeder (now abandoned) to supply water for its own use.

See also

• Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park

External links

• Great Falls Visitor Center official site
• Great Falls Park official site
• Satellite imagery of Great Falls on Google Maps