Great Falls Park
The Great Falls Park is located in Virginia, USA and is administered by the National Park Service. It extends along the banks of the Potomac River to 3.65 km ² (900 acres) and is part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway. The Great Falls of the Potomac River are located on the northern border of the park, as well as the Patowmack channel, the oldest canal of the United States, which had locks for lifting and launching of boats. The amount of waste, generally extending 20 meters over several waterfalls, can not be navigated by boats. Some kayakers drove at low water levels on the up to 10 -meter-high waterfalls in the depths. The waterfalls are still classified as class 5 white water, which means high risk. Entering the water above the falls is illegal in Virginia. According to statistics, every year drowning seven people in the Potomac River in the area of the park that most accidents happen in conjunction with alcohol, although the consumption of alcoholic beverages is prohibited in the area of the park.
Description
The George Washington Memorial Parkway was designed to ensure that the places that had attended George Washington most likely to be linked. The Great Falls Park was a part of the Northern Virginia park system and in 1966 the National Park Service transferred. A proposed bridge that would extend over the falls, was also considered, but the project due to a strong lobby that wanted to prevent additional bridges across the Potomac River, and concerns about Environmental impacts has never been implemented.
The park consists of several viewing platforms, which offer visitors a view of the falls. 24 km of hiking trails surround the park and run along a stream, the Difficult Run. Native American petroglyphs were discovered on cliffs that are located at the Difficult Run. Climbers often visit the cliffs overlooking the Potomac; The park is considered the best place for this sport in the metropolitan area of Washington DC. While camping is not allowed in the park, there is parking for up to 600 vehicles and a large picnic area. On busy weekends, the parking lots are often busy early in the morning, which delays and temporary closures that can last several hours, the result has.
The Patowmack channel, which was funded in part by George Washington, was a mile long tributary channel, which was built in 1785 in order to offer an opportunity houseboats to bypass the falls and distribute goods produced upstream and raw materials downstream. The park visitor center has been excavated in the 1980s from the Patowmack channel, the lower parts of two wooden lock gates. The gates are at least from the 1830s and were during maintenance work on the masonry, which had been built for the locks, discovered. The discovered footprints on the stones of the stone masons are unique to each artisan and identical to those that had been found on the foundations of the White House and the Capitol. During the construction of the canal was explosive at the time gunpowder used to blow up solid rock. This is one of the world's first known examples where explosives were used for technical purposes. The canal was never a profitable company; with the completion of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal on the opposite side of the river and the approaching era of railways, the project was completed in the 1830s. The Patowmack channel is a landmark in the construction industry and also a historic landmark Virginia. Along the trails you will also find ruins of the town Matildaville.
Between 1906 and 1932, the Great Falls and Old Dominion Railroad and later the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad operated an amusement park at the falls.
The park can be reached westward from Interstate 495, the Capital Beltway, exit at the Georgetown Pike and continue 3 miles ( 4.5 km ) in the direction of Old Dominion Drive. From there, interpret street signs one miles north to the park entrance. Admission is $ 5 and the park is only open during daylight hours.