Weverton Cliff

The Potomac River cuts water gaps through the Blue Ridge below Weverton Cliff

9 miles round trip, 800 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Easy-moderate
Access: Paved road to trailhead, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park parking fee required (Federal lands pass valid)

Weverton Cliff provides a sweeping overview of the water gaps cut by the Potomac River as it traverses the Blue Ridge Mountains. This hike is an opportunity to hike in two states with a view of a third and includes the only overlapping stretch of two of America's most famed routes, the Appalachian Trail and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. If you love history and natural scenery equally, here's one place where you won't have to choose one at the expense of the others: the great river views of this hike occur along one of the most historically critical landscapes of this nation. It's possible to make a shorter hike to Weverton Cliff by starting at a closer trailhead in Maryland, but I recommend hiking the route described here from Harpers Ferry to fully appreciate this land and its history.

I hiked this trail with my family on a cold winter day; high temperatures that would only be in the 20s didn't dissuade us from embarking on our annual Christmastime hike. We drove to Harpers Ferry from Fredericksburg; most hikers will probably visit from the DC metro area and will find the fasest route to be taking I-270 to Frederick, merging onto I-70 west briefly, and then taking US 340 west towards Harpers Ferry. After crossing the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers on US 340 heading west, we turned onto Union St and followed it until reaching Washington St, where we turned right and descended into Harpers Ferry. In the lower town, we made a left turn onto Shenandoah St and then a left again onto Potomac St to come to the train station, where we parked to start the hike.

From the train station, we followed an elevated path along abandoned railroad tracks towards the east. A grassy field below marked the former site of the United States Armory. George Washington selected Harpers Ferry to host the nation's second armory, which produced weapons from the Jefferson Administration through the end of the Civil War. Harpers Ferry was chosen in part for its ample hydropower that came from the rapids of the Potomac.

In 1859, events at the US Armory in Harpers Ferry became the spark that set off the American Civil War. Located at the time in the state of Virginia- West Virginia had yet to secede from its eastern neighbor- Harpers Ferry had a large store of armaments and was not far from the plantations of antebellum Virginia. Infuriated by the creep of slavery into newly-admitted western states, the Fugitive Slave Act, and the Dred Scott Decision, and recognizing the common humanity of people regardless of race, abolitionist John Brown chose Harpers Ferry as his target for a large-scale slave rebellion. Hoping to spark a widespread uprising of slaves against their masters, or perhaps even to precipitate a war, Brown assembled a small contingent of fighters to seize control of the armory. They believed that as news from their revolt spread throughout the countryside, slaves would join them at Harpers Ferry and together, they would be able to march south and deliver emancipation. Their plan failed: after successfully raiding the armory, few recruits joined them. The raid was crushed by a contingent of Marines led by Robert E. Lee and Brown was captured. A little over a month later, Brown was hung, but not before delivering a soon-fulfilled prophecy: "I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood." Twelve months later, South Carolina seceded from the Union.

John Brown's Fort, a fire engine house in which Brown made his last stand in his standoff against Lee's Marines, is one of the few remaining structures from the raid. The building has been moved since the raid, but the materials of the building remain those of the building in which Brown was apprehended. The Armory was dismantled after heavy damage during the Civil War and the armory site has been long abandoned.

John Brown's Fort at Harpers Ferry

John Brown remains one of the most controversial figures in American history, barely less divisive today than he was in the autumn of 1859. His ardent belief in abolition and his willingness to sacrifice his life for the cause made him a martyr to Northern abolitionists; Union soldiers marching into battle sang "John Brown's Body," a song that commemorated him. Ralph Waldo Emerson declared, upon Brown's hanging, that Brown would "make the gallows as glorious as the cross." To many white Southerners, John Brown was a terrorist. The widespread endorsement of Brown's actions in the North shocked white Southerners: their countrymen were cheering on efforts to kill them. Northerners, in turn, were becoming more disgusted by the day at the failure of white Southerners to recognize the humanity of their slaves. Mutual feelings of moral abhorence set America on an irreversible path to war. Historical interpretations of Brown have largely depended on the loyalties of the viewer: Brown is simultaneously venerated and deemed a madman. He was a violent man, the murderer of Pottawatomie, and an unselfish one who gave his life for emancipation.

I contemplated this past as I stood at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, still just meters away from the car. Rugged cliffs rose above the confluence: Maryland Heights across the Potomac, Loudoun Heights across the Shenandoah. Standing in West Virginia, I could see Maryland across the Potomac and Virginia just slightly further east across the Shenandoah. Old bridge piers crowded the river, giving reminder of the importance of the town of Harpers Ferry throughout American history.

The confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers at Harpers Ferry

Harpers Fery lies roughly at the halfway point of the Appalachian Trail, about a thousand miles from either Springer Mountain or Katahdin. We followed the Appalachian Trail across the Potomac on a railroad bridge. The truss bridge carried the track of the Winchester and Potomac Railroad and a pedestrian walkway. From the bridge, we had good views east over the Potomac-Shenandoah confluence and ahead to the massive cliffs of Maryland Heights.

Once in Maryland, the Appalachian Trail descended off the bridge via a spiral staircase and intersected with the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath. We continued following the Appalachian Trail north, which overlapped with the C&O Canal Towpath heading east. Just a few meters past the bridge, we found a nice riverside spot with a view back across the Potomac to Harpers Ferry with its church steeple and historic lower town.

Harpers Ferry viewed from the Maryland side of the Potomac

Harpers Ferry

We continued along the C&O Towpath for roughly 3 miles. The towpath was sandwiched between the C&O Canal and the Potomac River; at spots, small side paths led down to the river for nice views of this mighty river, the second largest river to drain into the Chesapeake Bay. About halfway through the C&O Canal Towpath section of the hike, the trail passed beneath the span of the US 340 bridge over the Potomac River. At a few spots along the trail, there were small beaches along the Potomac which were covered with tiny shells.

The Potomac River downstream of Harpers Ferry

While the river occupied attention on the southern side of the towpath, the canal was the main point of interest north of the trail. The C&O Canal was born out of grand dreams in the nation's early years as European Americans gradually began settling the lands of the Ohio Valley to the west of the Appalachians. After the construction of the Erie Canal in New York, it became clear that accessible trade routes between the East Coast and Midwest could be extremely lucrative. Thus, in the 1820s, the US government authorized the construction of a canal that would connect the Chesapeake Bay with the Ohio River watershed, a water route for trade from Washington DC to Pittsburgh. Work started in the late 1820s but ended at Cumberland, Maryland in 1850, still over a hundred miles from Pittsburgh. By the time the canal had been built, railroads were already supplanting canal barges as the most efficient means of transportation in the growing United States. Today much of the canal remains and the towpath once used by mules to tow boats upstream through the canal and through slackwater is now principally used by cyclists and hikers.

C&O Canal Towpath

Having followed the towpath for just under three miles along the Potomac River from Harpers Ferry, we arrived at the junction where the AT split off from the towpath. Here, we followed the white blazes and took the left turn at the intersection to leave the towpath, crossing railroad tracks and coming out to a road. We spotted white blazes for the AT across a sharp bend in Keep Tryst Road and followed the white blazes as the trail returned into the forest. At this point, the trail began the first real stretch of elevation gain of the hike, climbing slightly uphill before crossing under US 340 at the highway's bridge over the small gorge of Israel Creek. Older road traces were visible below the AT and were especially noticeable at the US 340 bridge, where the remnants of an older, lower bridge still stood over Israel Creek. After passing under US 340, the trail climbed slightly uphill and passed a parking lot for AT access about half a mile after leaving the towpath. Hikers wishing to skip the towpath stretch of the hike can park here to cut the hike down to a 2.5-mile round trip.

The trail briefly paralleled Weverton Cliff Road before coming to the intersection of Weverton Cliff and Weverton Roads. We crossed Weverton Road to continue uphill and north along the Appalachian Trail.

In the next mile and a bit, the trail ascended fairly gently up the slopes of South Mountain, which forms the principal crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains through Maryland. The trail was often rocky and had switchbacks at points but otherwise the ascent was not terribly difficult. 1.2 miles after passing the Weverton Cliff trailhead parking, the trail arrived at the top of the ridge. Here, the AT made a sharp left turn that was marked by a sign indicating that the AT was heading north. An unmarked trail broke off to the right here, heading downhill. We took this unmarked trail, which led down towards Weverton Cliff. A short descent brought us quickly down to a set of rocks with partially obstructed views of the Potomac and the surrounding countryside.

The Potomac River water gap at Harpers Ferry

By scrambling about the rocks at the end of the trail, I was able to get a good overall view of the surounding area. The cliff looked directly down over the Potomac River's water gap through South Mountain. To the west, I could see the Potomac River flowing through another water gap at Harpers Ferry, cutting between Loudoun and Maryland Heights. To the east, the Potomac River stretched out towards Catoctin Mountain and its final water gap before its great turn to the south towards Great Falls and the nation's capital. Farms in the Piedmont stretched out to the east, with the tiny town of Knoxville visible below nearby and Brunswick visible a little further down the river. To the west, I spotted the church steeple of Harpers Ferry through the water gap and could see the many-layered Valley and Ridge beyond. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad snaked along the river, its tracks still carrying cargo for CSX today, nearly two centuries after the ties were laid for the first common carrier railroad in the United States.

The Potomac River below Weverton Cliff

Mather Gorge

Mather Gorge from near Cow Hoof Rock

2.6 miles loop, 150 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Easy
Access: Paved road to trailhead, $10 entrance fee for Great Falls Park

The manicured parklands and wide biking paths along the calm Potomac near the Kennedy Center and the Tidal Basin in Washington DC give little hint of the violent, churning waters the river experiences just a handful of miles upstream. Between the Piedmont and the Tidewater, along the fall line of the Atlantic seaboard, the Potomac River drops 76 feet in a mile, forming one of the most impressive sets of river rapids on the continent. Just downstream of the Great Falls, the Potomac carves out a scene of nearly equal drama to the falls: vertical rock walls confine the river to a narrow, charging course through Mather Gorge. Equivalently astonishing is the ease in which most visitors can access these sights: a short hike with minimal elevation gain allows hikers to see the Virginia side of the falls and walk the length of the rocky canyon. This hike follows sections of the River Trail and Matildaville Trail to make a brief but enjoyable loop that is a perfect afternoon outing from DC.

The Maryland side of Great Falls is probably better known and more often visited: it's hard to beat the direct view of the river's main channel from Olmsted Island or to one up the the Billy Goat Trail's rock scramble along Mather Gorge. The Virginia side offers an equally enjoyable hike along the Mather Gorge, albeit without the rock scramble that contributes to the excitement of the Billy Goat Trail.

I hiked this trail on a warm New Year's Eve with two of my very good friends from the University of Virginia. We met up in Northern Virginia near Merrifield and followed the Beltway to the exit for Georgetown Pike and Great Falls, which is just south of where I-495 crosses the Potomac on the American Legion Bridge. If you are coming to Great Falls Park from DC itself, you can get to Georgetown Pike by following the George Washington Parkway west to its terminus and follow signs for Georgetown Pike. Once off the Beltway, we followed Georgetown Pike west for four hilly and windy miles to Old Dominion Drive. We turned right onto Old Dominion Drive and followed the road to its terminus at Great Falls Park. The park is operated by the National Park Service, although it is not technically a national park; it falls under the administration of the agency's National Capital Parks.

We headed south from the large parking area past the visitor center to the wide trail that paralleled the river. Soon after passing the visitor center, we came to the first overlook of three overlooks of the Great Falls. We checked out all three, spending time at each to admire the roaring rapids of the Potomac at high water. During low water, two distinct levels of falls are visible in the center of the river; however, during our visit, after a week of heavy rains, the waters of the Potomac were full enough that the drops were barely noticeable as the river churned its way downstream. In many spots, the high water led to spectacular spray on the roaring Potomac.

The Great Falls of the Potomac

While at the third overlook of the falls, we watched two rescue boats work their way upstream towards the falls in what must have been a training exercise. One raft, belonging to the Cabin John River Rescue, advanced too close to the falls. The current overpowered the craft's engines, causing the raft to rotate and then capsize. One of the two men aboard was carried swiftly downstream by the river; luckily, he made his way out of the main current and into some calmer waters near the Virginia shore, where the crew of the other raft came and picked him up.

Boat capsizing at Great Falls

The man's rescue was a suspenseful moment. We wondered briefly whether the whole event was merely part of a training session but found that idea implausible: the raft capsizing did not seem at all as if it had been planned.

We left the Third Overlook and began to follow the River Trail, which split off to the left from the wide, gravel Patowmack Canal Trail that we had followed earlier. The River Trail offered few views of the river early on as it wound through the rocky terrain and forest a few yards back from the rim of Mather Gorge. At a few spots, the uneven terrain on the trail might require a brief bit of rock scrambling for some, but it is something that most hikers would be able to handle with no problem.

A few hundred yards along the River Trail, we came to the first good view of the river and the gorge. Here, a plaque proclaimed the name of the canyon and noted that it was named after the first director of the National Park Service. Mather and his deputy director, Horace Albright, were key in forming the current familiar definition of national parks as places meant for conservation, recreation, historic preservation, and science.

The entrance of Mather Gorge

While admiring the gorge and its gray cliffs of metamorphic rock, we saw a kayaker battling against the current on the Potomac. The kayaker took turns with a man on a stand-up paddleboard in heading to the middle of the river channel and paddling furiously and quixotically against the swift-moving waters.

Kayaker battling the Potomac

We continued on the River Trail, soon passing a four-way intersection with trails leading down to the river itself and back towards the visitor center. We stayed straight to cross a wooden bridge across a small stream gully. The next stretch of the trail was quite scenic, with frequent viewpoints of the gorge. A few hundred yards later, the trail turned sharply to the right and crossed the channel of the Patowmack Canal to join the canal path. We turned left and followed the canal south. It was soon clear why the trail had turned inland: the gorge rim was sliced by the canal cut where the canal descended to reach the Potomac. The canal is now long out of use: in many places, the channel of the canal is barely recognizable. It was once a project of great importance to George Washington, who hoped the canal would allow for trade by river to the upper reaches of the Potomac.

The canal path turned back into the River Trail, bringing us back to cliffs alongside the Mather Gorge after passing the canal cut. This was the most thrilling stretch of the hike: for the next quarter mile, the trail followed the rim of the gorge, offering continuous views of the river and of the rocky cliffs. The gorge walls were at their steepest here, with a nearly vertical drop from the edge of the trail to the now-more-placid Potomac.

Mather Gorge

At the end of the canyon rim segment of trail, the River Trail intersected with a paved road. The road headed downhill to the left towards Sandy Landing, a boat launch point on the Potomac; we skipped the river access and instead continued forward on the River Trail. The remaining portion of the River Trail stayed fairly far back from the river itself until we neared Cow Hoof Rock, which was perhaps another quarter of a mile beyond the road intersection. A spur trail led off to the left from the main trail towards a rocky outcrop, passing by what appeared to be an old fireplace. The view at the rock itself was quite impressive: here, the Potomac made a wide bend, exiting the straight, narrow channel that it had cut in Mather Gorge into the wider, less confined, but equally rocky downstream terrain. We sat on the rock and enjoyed the sunlight dancing across the metamorphed sandstone of the grey canyon walls as the clouds moved in and out. We ate food we had picked up earlier from H-mart and reminisced about the beautiful years we had spent in Charlottesville.

Mouth of Mather Gorge at Cow Hoof Rock

The real Cow Hoof Rock was a little further down the trail, a little bit farther uphill. We turned around at this point though, heading back along the River Trail to its junction with the road to Sandy Landing. At that intersection, we took the road heading to the left, away from the river. This soon became the Matildaville Trail, which we followed through a round, grassy field in what used to be a quarry. After passing the quarry, we took a right to stay on the Matildaville Trail near that trail's intersection with the Old Carriage Road. The Matildaville Trail followed a ridge parallel to the river, offering obscured views through the trees of Mather Gorge in the distance. Later on, the trail paralleled the Patowmack Canal, which we could also see through the trees to our right. After passing a connector trail leading to the Patowmack Canal Trail, the Matildaville Trail came upon its namesake set of ruins.

Today, Matildaville is just a set of stone foundations; in the early eighteenth century, it was a town next to the canal that relied on trade and operation of the Patowmack Canal. Just as George Washington championed the Patowmack Canal, another towering figure in Virginia history, Lighthorse Harry Lee, was instrumental in the establishment of the town, which was named after Lee's wife, Matilda. The town eventually lost relevance after the Patowmack Canal's usefulness wore out and was burnt to the ground by the mid-19th century.

Matildaville

After passing all of the stone foundations that remained at Matildaville, we came to the Old Carriage Trail, which we merged onto and followed to the right back to the visitor center and the trailhead, ending an easy and thoroughly enjoyable half-day hike.

Maryland Heights

Harpers Ferry from the Maryland Heights viewpoint

6.7 miles loop, 1600 feet elevation gain

Difficulty: Moderate

Access: Paved road to trailhead, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park parking fee required

Maryland Heights offers the classic view of the churches and Civil War-era buildings of Harpers Ferry nestled at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. With views like these coupled with a chance to learn about the area's critical and explosive role in the Civil War, it's no wonder that Maryland Heights is one of the most popular hikes in the DC area. 

I hiked this trail with a group of fellow interns in late July. We left Rockville mid-morning and took I-270 northwest to Frederick, then US 340 west to Harpers Ferry. I tried parking at the lot at the base of the trail on the Maryland side of the river but the lot was already full, so I doubled back and drove over to the West Virginia side of the river. To reach the Maryland trailhead (and trim 1.2 miles round trip from the hike), turn left onto Keep Tryst Road from US 340 during the long downhill before crossing the Potomac River. Then turn right onto Sandy Hook Road and drive past the foot of the Maryland Heights cliff until you reach pass the trailhead to the right. There is a small parking area on the right. We parked at the train station in Harpers Ferry, where we purchased a week's pass for the park for $10. 

We walked down to the Point, where we passed by an old fire engine house now known as John Brown's Fort. In October 1859, abolitionist John Brown led a militia raid on the federal armory located at Harpers Ferry; Brown's plan was to seize armaments and spur an uprising among enslaved peoples in Virginia, arming them for a rebellion to end slavery in the South. However, after seizing the armory, the planned uprising stalled when no one answered the call to arms; when the Army arrived, Brown and his men retreated to the fire engine house here at the point and made a last stand before being captured. Brown's subsequent execution led Northern abolitionists to regard him as a martyr and Southern plantation owners to view his as a terrorist, intesifying the polarization between the free and slaveholding states and catalyzing the bloody Civil War that broke out just 18 months later.

From the Point, we crossed the Potomac River on the Appalachian Trail bridge, which paralleled an old railroad bridge. Supports for old bridges littered the river. To the right (east), there was a beautiful view of Loudoun Heights rising above the Potomac Water Gap. Beneath us, we saw many people tubing on the river.

The Potomac River at Harpers Ferry

Once across the river, we took the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath west, following it for a little less than half a mile. Here, the canal is essentially dried up; however, there were still nice views of the Potomac, with a few paths leading steeply downhill to the side of the river. At times, there were views between the trees to the church steeple and antebellum buildings of Harpers Ferry across the Potomac. About 10 minutes along the towpath from the bridge, we came to a path to the right that spanned the dry canalbed and crossed Sandy Hook Road to the trailhead.

The trail, a broad former road, immediately began to climb at a moderate grade. In the next three-quarter miles or so, the trail ascended continuously, with a few historical signs along the trail to tell of the area's Civil War history. The first major historical stop along the trail was the Naval Battery, a former Union defensive position where two major guns were mounted high above the river and town below. A trail looped around the footprint of the former battery- while no views were available, the size of the battery's footprint gave an impressive idea of the size of the artillery used in the war.

A little further from the Naval Battery, we reached a trail junction: the trail to the right led directly to the viewpoint at Maryland Heights, while the trail to the left led to more Civil War fortifications. We took the trail to the left, which followed a former road built by the Union Army to haul equipment and weapons to a fort atop the ridge. This trail was remarkably steep- steeper, certainly, than your average Mid-Atlantic trail. This made for a very tiring stretch of trail on a hot, humid day. It was hard to imagine how cannons could possibly be lugged up such a road.

The trail finally leveled out as it approached the top of the ridge. We walked among the remnants of a Union stone fort, where only a handful of scattered stone walls remaining.

Stoneworks from the former Union fort on Maryland Heights

From the stone fort, we followed the ridge of Maryland Heights south. The ridgeline provided pleasant, flat walking, a welcome respite from the climb up. We saw a few deer and many more people as we followed the heavily vegetated ridge. Eventually we came to the site of a former 100-pound battery. From this spot, there were impressive views east to the Potomac River's water gaps through South Mountain and Catoctin Mountain at Point of the Rocks further downstream. Sugarloaf Mountain was also visible in the distance, rising out of the otherwise flat-looking Piedmont.

The Potomac River flowing east of Harpers Ferry, with Sugarloaf in the distance

We continued along the ridgeline, which soon began a very steep descent. We dropped downhill quickly, passing the site of another former battery before coming to a junction with the trail that led to the viewpoint. Taking the left hand fork, we descended a little further via a few switchbacks to reach the open top of the cliffs. These cliffs rose precipitously out of the river and offered a huge view of Harpers Ferry, Loudoun Heights, the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers, and Shenandoah Valley.

The Potomac River west of Harpers Ferry

We enjoyed the view before returning to the original trail to finish the loop. Back on the C&O Canal, we were able to look up and see the cliffs where we had just been.

View of Maryland Heights from below

Back in Harpers Ferry, we had a very late lunch, made even later after we were ignored by the staff of Secret Six Tavern for ten minutes after we were seated; so instead we ate at a restaurant a little closer to the train station and had a good end to an excellent hike.

Billy Goat Trail Section A

Mather Gorge

4 miles loop, 400 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Moderate

This stretch of trail (Section A) is the one that most Washingtonians refer to when they mention the Billy Goat Trail. It is a spectacular hike, one of my favorite hikes in the Mid-Atlantic, and it is conveniently just a half hour away from downtown Washington DC. This hike makes a loop out of the 1.7-mile Billy Goat Trail Section A itself, a section of the C&O Canal Towpath, and the spur trail to the Great Falls viewpoint. The Great Falls of the Potomac and the sheer cliffs of Mather Gorge form the impressive natural setting of this trail, which follows the Potomac and has some very enjoyable rock scrambling.

I hiked this trail with four friends on a sunny Saturday afternoon in June. After finishing the other two sections of the trail in the evenings during the workweek, we decided to hike the longest and most famous segment of the Billy Goat Trail on a weekend to allow more time to hike and experience the trail. It was a good thing we did- this hike took much longer than the other segments. The park was quite crowded on the warm weekend; there was a line of cars at the entrance station of the Great Falls area. To get to the area, we took Falls Road to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park and turned right at the T-intersection with MacArthur Boulevard. The road into the park descended through forest to a large parking area near Great Falls Tavern. We saw many Canada geese by the canal and dropped by the visitor center before we crossed the canal and started south on the towpath to start the hike.

We quickly arrived at the spur trail leading to Great Falls. The boardwalk immediately led across one of the many branches of the Potomac. The bridge provided a good vantage point over a set of small chutes as the river plunged down a narrow, rocky gorge. Continuing on, we hiked across part of Olmsted Island, a divider of the Potomac, to another bridge, where there was another tiny branch of the Potomac plunging over a small waterfall and sliding down a rock slab.

Falls on Olmsted Island

Beyond these small branch falls of the Potomac, we finally came out onto a wooden platform with a view of the full Great Falls. Here, the mighty Potomac River crashes down a rocky stretch of rapids, a powerful scene. This spot was quite crowded, with many visitors jostling for the view of the falls. The Great Falls are the most dramatic rapids of any of the major Mid-Atlantic rivers at the Fall Line.

The Great Falls of the Potomac River

Retracing our steps back to the towpath, we continued south. At one point, we followed an unmarked path downhill to a small beach next to the Potomac, with impressive craggy rocks rising above us.

A rocky beach downstream of Great Falls

We returned to the canal towpath for a short segment before coming to a bridge over a lock, where we found signs for the start of the Billy Goat Trail Section A. Numerous warning signs marked the start of this hike- and for good reason, as many park visitors who wander onto the trail without knowing what the hike is like end up getting more than they were looking for. The trail started out fairly flat, with a few rocks protruding here and there, and stuck back a little from the cliffs at the edge of the river.

The trail winded through small trees. This area of the hike was, sadly, badly eroded: so many hikers do this trail and so many disregard trail markers (and so many trail markers are unclear) that it was no longer possible to tell where the trail was in many cases. Vegetation in this region was very badly damaged. While some mild rock scrambling was required in this section, none of it was particularly difficult.

The trail then passed a sign warning of a difficult trail ahead. Past this point, the trail led onto the large rocks directly above Mather Gorge. Emerging from the trees, the trail now gave stunning views of the Potomac River and the huge cliffs on the Virginia side.

Mather Gorge, on the Potomac River

The rock scrambling in this section was very fun. It was surprising that such extensive rock scrambling was accessible just 30 minutes out of DC. From the trail, there were views up and down the gorge. One of the less fortunate things about this trail was the amount of litter. Its proximity to an urban center probably contributes to its problems with both erosion and garbage.

Coming down from the rocks, the trail swung back into the forest for a while, descending gradually to the level of the river. When the trail finally came out next to the river, the trail swung left away from the river up a large rock face- the Spitzbergen Cliff. The single most dramatic stretch on this hike, the Spitzbergen Cliff is a slanted rock face that the trail cuts up to continue. While not difficult to scramble up, the cliff certainly looked impressive and was a good deal of fun.

Spitzbergen Cliffs

Past Spitzbergen, the trail wound through a nice beach and more rock scrambles, allowing even more views of the Potomac. The trail eventually reached the end of Mather Gorge and then cut inward into Bear Island, crossing a stream that drains the island.

The Potomac River

At long last, the trail merged back with the C&O Canal Towpath. My group of fairly fit twenty-somethings had taken nearly 2 hours to do the 1.7 mile stretch of the Billy Goat Trail- one of my friends remarked that it was almost impossible that the trail had just been 1.7 miles. So if you do plan on doing this hike, schedule plenty of time for it.

Back on the Towpath, we walked north (turned left) and strolled along Widewater, a broad part of the canal. The Widewater section was quite notable for the large rocky prominences on the other side of the canal, which seemed very similar to the rocky cliffs seen on Mather Gorge. I wonder whether this was a former gorge of the Potomac River, or whether that was somehow created during the construction of the canal. We saw assorted birdlife on the canal and passed a number of locks before we returned to the junction with the northern end of the Billy Goat Trail to complete our loop.

Widewater, on the C&O Canal

Billy Goat Trail Section C

The Potomac River along the Billy Goat Trail C

2.5 miles loop, 100 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Easy
Access: Paved road to trailhead, no fee required

The Billy Goat Trail Section C is the easternmost and perhaps the least spectacular of the three sections of trail that go under the name "Billy Goat Trail." There are no rock scrambles on this trail, which is fairly easy and fairly flat as it winds its way 1.6 miles along the Potomac River before joining up with the C&O Canal Towpath.

I hiked this trail on a weekday after work with five friends. We made our way through rush hour traffic to the trailhead at Carderock, which is located off of the Clara Barton Parkway just west of the I-495 Virginia-Maryland bridge. Carderock refers to both a naval surface warfare center and a nearby park on the Potomac River. We parked in the westernmost parking area in Carderock, which can be reached by turning right once in Carderock and driving to the last parking lot.

From the parking area, we hopped immediately onto the Billy Goat C trail. The trail passed through forest and quickly reached the top of a set of cliffs above the Potomac River. We saw a number of rock climbers here with a view across the river to Virginia. The Great Falls/Carderock area is well known for its rock climbing due to its incredible convenience: Carderock is only a three minute drive from the Beltway.

Cliffs along the Potomac

From here, we continued on, descending to close to river level and passing by a number of beaches, many of which were littered with tiny shells and exposed rocks. The river here was fairly calm, much less rocky and wild than the river near Great Falls a few miles upriver.

The cliffs and the gorges just uphill of DC are a result of the Fall Line, a boundary between two physiographic regions in the Mid-Atlantic/South. In Virginia and Maryland, the Tidewater is a flat, sedimentary region that slopes down to the Chesapeake Bay. The major rivers of the Bay watershed- the Susquehanna, Patapsco, Patuxent, Potomac, Rappahannock, York, and James- are not truly flowing rivers in the Tidewater, but instead saltwater extensions of the Chesapeake estuary. The Piedmont (the foothills) are much different: rocky, ancient, and hilly. The boundary between the two regions is stark and well defined: rapids lie on all rivers at the Fall Line. The Fall Line was of critical importance to the early settlement of the Chesapeake watershed as it marked the westernmost navigable point on all major rivers. Washington DC, Fredericksburg, and Richmond were all built at the Fall Line: directly upstream of these cities, there are rapids on the Potomac, Rappahannock, and James Rivers.

Along the Billy Goat Section C, the transition from Piedmont to Tidewater was fairly clear: the rocky ground made it clear that the trail was still in the Piedmont, but the calm river suggested that the Tidewater was not far off.

After continuing further along the river, we passed a small stream with a five foot waterfall before the trail wound away from the river and ended on the C&O Canal Towpath. We followed the towpath back to the parking area as the sun set and saw numerous frogs and deer along the way; most surprisingly, we saw a baby duck following a flock of young geese, perhaps due to imprinting. We also heard taps playing from across the Clara Barton Parkway at the Carderock NSWC.

The Potomac River

Billy Goat Trail Section B

Sunset on the Potomac River

 2.4 miles loop, 150 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Easy

Apologies for the lack of recent updates! I've been a little slow writing posts since school ended and I've got quite a few hikes backlogged, it'll probably take me a while to finish writing about them and they'll probably all be out of chronological order.

The Billy Goat Section B is an enjoyable and fairly scenic hike just a few minutes outside of the Beltway near Washington, DC. It explores the rocky banks of the Potomac River downstream from Great Falls and Mather Gorge. Although the hike does not pass through remote wilderness, it does explore a very pretty spot that is very close to an urban center.

Four friends and I headed to the Great Falls area after work halfway through my first week in Maryland. We got to the trailhead from I-495 (the Beltway) by exiting onto the Clara Barton Parkway, west, at the very last (or first, if you're coming from Virginia) exit in Maryland. The Clara Barton Parkway merged into MacArthur Boulevard, which we followed a mile or so to Angler's Inn, the trailhead. Old Angler's Inn is a restaurant to the right of MacArthur Boulevard. We parked across the road, close to the trailhead.

From the parking area, we followed a gravel path down to the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Towpath. The C&O Canal was a major engineering feat in early American history that provided a shipping route from Georgetown to Cumberland, Maryland, opening up commerce between the watersheds of the Potomac and Ohio Rivers. The towpath was constructed along the canal as a path for horses and donkeys that towed the barges up the canal. Upon reaching the towpath, we turned left and followed the towpath east. In less than a hundred meters, we came to the junction with the beginning of the Billy Goat Trail Section B, which headed off into the woods on the right.

We headed onto the trail and followed it toward the shores of the Potomac River. The trail was fairly rocky but was not too difficult to follow. There were few views at first, prompting us to bushwhack a little ways off the trail to a small rock with a viewpoint of the river. However, as we continued on, the views along the trail opened up. We made our way past a few simple rock scrambles, passing small cliffs near the river and a few small beaches with views across to the numerous islands in the river and to Virginia. Wildlife was semi-abundant: we saw a herd of deer on the Virginia side of the river and later, on the towpath, we saw a number of geese in the canal.

The Potomac

The trail wound its way close to the river and then away from it, following a small ravine away from the river before crossing a stream and returning to the river. Numerous side unmarked trails headed off to the left: I assume these trails would connect back with the towpath. We reached a particularly spectacular section of hike where the trail headed onto a set of open rocks with broad views of the river just as the sun was disappearing, casting glorious colors onto the clouds that littered the sky. We hurried to finish the Billy Goat Section B trail and missed the actual sunset, but we managed to return to the C&O Towpath just after sunset and avoided having to hike back in the dark.

The Potomac River

We followed the towpath about a mile back to the parking area, walking along the algae-filled canal. I'm glad that I'm living just 20 minutes from this park this summer- hopefully I'll have chances to thoroughly explore the numerous Potomac River parks both inside and outside the Beltway by August.

Returning on the towpath along the C&O Canal