Great Falls
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Great Falls is a waterfall in Virginia, at a recorded elevation of 39 m. Sugarloaf Mountain stands 387 m to the north-northwest, 20 miles off. The nearest named place is Lock 18, a attraction 0.2 miles away. Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Byway passes 0.4 miles off. 53 named summits stand within 25 miles.
The story
Great Falls is a series of rapids and waterfalls on the Potomac River in the state of Maryland 14 miles (23 km) upstream from Washington, D.C. As the border between the states of Maryland and Virginia generally follows the low-water line on the Virginia side, the river and falls at Great Falls lie within Montgomery County, Maryland, which abuts Fairfax County, Virginia on the far shore. Great Falls Park, managed as part of George Washington Memorial Parkway, is on the southern banks in Virginia, and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park parkland is along the northern banks of the river in Maryland. Both are operated by the National Park Service. The Great Falls area is popular for outdoor activities such as kayaking, whitewater rafting, rock climbing, and hiking. The Billy Goat Trail on Bear Island, and Olmsted Island, both accessible from Maryland, offer scenic views of the Great Falls. There also are overlook points on the Virginia side. Great Falls and Little Falls (about 5 miles downstream) are named in contradistinction to one another. The river cascades over a series of 20-foot (6.1 m) falls, dropping a total of 76 feet (23 m) in elevation over a distance of less than 1 mile (1.6 km). The Potomac narrows 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 reached during the 1936 Northeastern United States Floods.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q1475394, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Height
- 14 m
- Elevation
- 39 m
How to reach it
- 0.4 mi off the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Byway
- 1.0 mi off the Old Georgetown Pike
- 4.4 mi off the George Washington Memorial Parkway, National
- 13.5 mi off the Antietam Campaign Byway
Overlooks nearby
- Great Falls Overlook · 1 mi
- Great Falls Overlook 1 · 1 mi
- Great Falls Overlook 2 · 1 mi
- Great Falls Overlook 3 · 1 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Lock 18: 0.2 mi
- Lock 19: 0.2 mi
- Lock 20: 0.3 mi
- Lock 16: 0.6 mi
- Lock 15: 0.7 mi
- Mather Gorge marker: 0.4 mi
- Mather Gorge: 0.4 mi
- Burling Defenders: 3.5 mi
- Ruins of Worker's Houses for Nearby Quarries: 4.6 mi
- Dennis Crook Memorial Bench: 4.9 mi
- Woodrock Playground Park: 1.6 mi
- Great Falls Grange Park: 1.7 mi
- Woodrock Terrace Park: 1.8 mi
- Lock 21 “Swains” Campground: 2.4 mi
- Heritage Farm Neighborhood Park: 2.4 mi
- Potomac River Water Filtration Plant: 2.8 mi
- Clay Houses: Boulder-Room-Holes(2007-08) by Andy Goldsworthy: 4.0 mi
- Sylvester (2001) by Richard Serra: 4.1 mi
- Untitled (2005) by Ellsworth Kelly: 4.1 mi
- Untitled (1992-95) by Felix Gonzalez-Torres: 4.1 mi
- Colvin Run General Store: 2.9 mi
- Colvin Run Mill House: 2.9 mi
- Blacksmith Shop: 2.9 mi
- Colvin Run Mill: 3.0 mi
- Glenstone Museum: 4.2 mi
- Old Dominion School Site: 3.0 mi
- Rock Run Stream Valley Park: 3.3 mi
- Fraser Preserve: 4.3 mi
- Ashgrove Historic Site Park: 4.6 mi
- Windsor Neighborhood Conservation Area: 4.8 mi
- Carderock, Chesapeake & Ohio National Historic Park: 3.3 mi
- Picnic area C: 4.0 mi
- Picnic area B: 4.0 mi
- Picnic area A: 4.0 mi
- Picnic area D: 4.0 mi
- Fred Packard Grove: 4.3 mi
- Children’s Garden and Pavillion: 4.4 mi
- White Garden: 4.4 mi
- Terrace Garden: 4.4 mi
- Entry Garden: 4.4 mi
- Prospect Hill: 2.2 mi
- Gantt Hill: 5.1 mi
- Freedom Hill: 5.2 mi
- Hunting Hill: 6.7 mi
- Mount Daniel: 7.9 mi
- Clean Drinking Manor Spring: 10.2 mi
- Silver Spring: 12.0 mi
- Takoma Spring: 13.4 mi
- Sandy Spring: 15.9 mi
- Indian Springs: 19.3 mi
- Sycamore Beach: 1.3 mi
- Purplehorse Beach: 1.3 mi
- Fishing Shore: 10.3 mi
- Lake Barcroft Beach: 11.8 mi
- Scott's Run Falls: 3.4 mi
- Stubblefield Falls: 3.7 mi
- Brambleton Sign/Water Decoration: 14.8 mi
- Coe Creek: 19.6 mi
- Quartz Rock Outcropping: 17.5 mi
- Quartz Rock Outcropping: 17.5 mi
- Rosier Bluff: 19.6 mi
- Indian Queen Bluff: 20.8 mi
- Manassas Safety/Rest Area West: 18.4 mi
- Manassas Safety/Rest Area East: 18.4 mi
Summits around it
The highest named summits within 25 miles of Great Falls. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sugarloaf Mountain | NNW 338° | 387 m | 19.8 mi |
| Chestnut Peak | WSW 252° | 374 m | 24.4 mi |
| Waterford Peak | NW 307° | 361 m | 21.5 mi |
| Bald Mountain | NW 312° | 235 m | 22.8 mi |
| Hogback Mountain | WNW 290° | 187 m | 20.2 mi |
| Steptoe Hill | W 277° | 176 m | 23.0 mi |
| Gantt Hill | SSE 168° | 156 m | 5.1 mi |
| Hunting Hill | NNE 26° | 156 m | 6.7 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:13 | 18:46 | 19:21 |
| June solstice | 05:44 | 19:59 | 20:39 |
| September equinox | 06:57 | 18:33 | 19:08 |
| December solstice | 07:25 | 16:08 | 16:51 |
Local time (America/New_York).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: Apr–Oct.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 33 | 35 | 42 | 53 | 62 | 70 | 75 | 74 | 67 | 55 | 45 | 37 |
| Precip in | 3.3 | 2.6 | 3.8 | 3.4 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 3.4 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Vienna, 8 mi away.
Months at or above the year’s average flow: Dec–Jun — fullest in Mar, leanest in Aug.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean cfs | 71.4 | 79.7 | 87.6 | 81.4 | 76.2 | 70.8 | 47.2 | 41.3 | 44.3 | 43.2 | 52.2 | 65.2 |
USGS monthly mean discharge at gauge Difficult Run Near Great Falls, VA, 2 mi away — the nearest gauge, which can sit on a different stream.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikipediaWikidataOpenStreetMap element node/508029576
Day trips start here
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