Flood Marker

This canal, skirting the 76-foot drop of the Great Falls on the Potomac, was the most demanding and complex of the five canals built by the Patowmack Company.

• A flood marker is positioned in front of a stone walkway. The walkway is uneven. To the left of the stone pathway is a gravel a pathway leading to a boardwalk. Dates on the marker from highest to lowest: 1936, 1942, 1972, 1937, 1996, 1985.

Great Falls Overlook 1

This overlook is located to the left of the south end of the Visitor Center. It is the closest you can get to the Falls themselves.

• A wide photo of a large rocky waterfall surrounded by rocky cliffs and trees.

Great Falls Overlook 2

This overlook is located further down the trail. Most of the waterfall can be seen from this overlook.

• A wide photo of a large rocky waterfall surrounded by rocky cliffs and trees.

Great Falls Overlook 3

Two viewing platforms at Overlook 3 provide the best view of Great Falls.

• A large and wide rocky waterfall surrounded by rocky cliffs and trees.

Great Falls Park Fee Booth

Great Falls Fee Booth.

• A small fee booth surrounded by trees. Next to the booth is a line of cars checking into the booth/

Information Panel: A Globally Rare Environment

Look around you. Have you noticed the unusual landscape here? Because of this landscape's wild river and rocky terrain, this is one of the country's most biologically diverse areas. Bedrock terraces high above the river, precarious ledges and floodplains have become a fragile home to over 30 distinct plant communities, three of which are not found anywhere else in the world. What has and continues to cause this diverse, rare life to exist? The river before you is the answer. 

• An information panel is embedded within a wood barrier. The barrier to prevent visitors from falling is placed atop a stone wall. A river with large rocks surrounding it is positioned in the background.

Information Panel: Explore A Trail Network

Welcome to Great Falls Park. We hope that you enjoy your time exploring the Potomac River Gorge, but please remember to keep your own safety in mind. If you aren't adapted with long sturdy legs and wide spreading toes like we Herons, it will be easy for you to slip off the rocks at the river's edge of get carried away by the swift currents or whirlpools. Enjoy your visit and please come again!

• Two information panels are connected. They are positioned behind a gravel surface. Behind and to the left of the panels is a fence constructed of wood. Trees stand in the background.

Information Panel: Life Under the Surface

The Potomac River travels 383 miles from its headwaters to the Chesapeake Bay. Migratory fish depend on its constant flow to survive. The American Shad symbolizes the struggle that many aquatic organisms face when trying to find a healthy and dependable habitat to breed. 

• An information panel is embedded into a wood fence. A stone wall sits beneath it. Vegetation, rocks, and flowing water are seen behind and below the information panel.

Information Panel: People and the Potomac

The Potomac River is the second largest watershed feeding the Chesapeake Bay. Early peoples depended on the river for food and made their homes along its banks. European settlers saw the river as a source for transportation, expansion, and settlement. 

• An information panel is embedded into a barrier constructed of wood. The barrier protects visitors from falling. The surface leading to the wayside is wood paneling. A river with rocks on either side is seen in the background.

Information Panel: River of Change

The Potomac River begins as a small spring near Fairfax Stone, West Virginia. Like a giant funnel it gathers water from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia as it travels 383 miles to the Chesapeake Bay.

• An information panel is embedded in a barrier constructed of wood. The barrier is positioned on a stone wall. Water flows down and in between rocks in the background.

Information Panel: Something More than a Statue

Before World War II, there were no national memorials honoring American veterans. This was the first. Felix de Weldon was working for the Navy when he first saw the flag-raising photo. Powerfully inspired, he started work. He created his first small statue in only 48 hours. He then secured approval from the Corps and Congress to make something grander. 

• Two, long information panels are positioned low to the ground just off a paved path. The panels stand at about half a foot from the ground. A grassy field is positioned behind the panels. A memorial of men raising an American flag is seen in the background.

Matildaville

These rocks mark the site of a building of the now-vanished town of Matildaville. Founded in 1790, the town was planned as an industrial community which would profit from its location on the canal. It once boasted a forge, gristmill, store, storage buildings, some homes and an inn, but it could not survive the closing of the canal in 1830.

• A small, stone structure is held together with cement. Metal railings act as a barrier to protect it. Brown, plant overgrowth covers the structure's foundation. A gravel path seems to circle around the stone structure. Tall trees stand in the background.

Pawtomac Canal Company House

These rock walls mark the site of a house built in the late 1790's by the Patowmac Company. Intended for the Canal Superintendent and his family, the house took so long to build that only one of the superintendents ever lived in it. Later it was occupied by the canal lock-tenders.

• Two structures constructed of stone and cement are positioned in a wood area. The two structures are not connected, but seem as though at one point, they were. Overgrowth covers the bottom parts of the stone structures.

Pawtomac Canal Holding Basin

Since entering the woods, you have been walking through what was the holding basin of the Patowmac Canal. Water held here by the wooden gates was used to fill the locks for boats locking through.

• A dirt/gravel pathway is surrounded by short walls of rock on either side. The pathway seems to lead into the distance and to the right. Trees stand tall in the background.

Potowmack Canal

The Potowmack Canal Historic District consists of the largest, longest and most intact remains of the Potowmack Canal, built between 1786 and 1802, and the ruins of the small associated town of Matildaville. The development of the Potowmack Canal required interstate cooperation and the canal planners saw that the new republic would require similar collaboration thus inspiring the unification of the colonies to become the United States of America.

Restrooms at Great Falls Park

Restrooms at Great Falls Park

• One story brown building.

Great Falls Park Visitor Center

• Great Falls Park Visitor Center
• The Visitor Center is currently open daily 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

• Soak Up Spectacular Views at the Great Falls Overlooks
• Great Falls Park has many opportunities to explore history and nature, all in a beautiful 800-acre park only 15 miles from the Nation's Capital.

• Hike Algonkian Regional Park to Difficult Run
• This hike is mostly wooded; some parts are rocky and some can be rocky. But you will see, in some places, exceptional displays of bluebells in spring and colors in autumn. Management partners include Loudoun County Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services; Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority; The Nature Conservancy; Fairfax County Park Authority; and National Park Service, all are aided by volunteers with the Potomac Heritage Trail Association and others.