Walk 17: Cabin John Creek Section 3 and the Potomac

I always like to say that the worst walk in the woods is better than the best walk around the block but this section of the Cabin John Creek trails sort of strains that saying.

A noisy walk when you go under three major roads.

The main points of interest in the walk are that it finishes up Cabin John Creek because you can wind up on the shores of the Potomac and Cabin John Bridge. Whether that offsets the noise you wind up with as you pass under three major highways is another matter. That and all the graffiti beneath the bridges.

At the moment, with all the leaves out on the trees, you can't really get a good look at Cabin John Bridge so I'm going to use this historic photo as my main illustration. Again, it's interesting to note how denuded the land is of trees. Although the bridge does carry one lane of traffic on MacArthur Blvd now and is a major bottleneck in rush hour, it's purpose wasn't really for commuting. Instead, the bridge is part of the Washington Aqueduct and was started in 1853.

The bridge under construction.

The problem faced by Washington even back then was that the city had thoroughly polluted the Potomac every where that was close by. So engineers built an aqueduct to draw water down from above Great Falls where the river ran a bit cleaner. I say a bit cleaner because even back then, I would have boiled the water before I touched it.

The walk dips under the three bridges and if you follow it, you will walk across the underpass where Cabin John Creek actually flows under the canal.

Where Cabin John Creek flows under the C&O Canal.

Just beyond this point on the trail, you can cross the canal on a footbridge and if you turn left, you can rejoin the creek on the far side the canal. An informal, unmarked trail follows the bank of the creek until you reach the Potomac.

Yep, that's the Potomac just through the opening.

My other quibble with the walk is that this route takes you to one of the less attractive areas of the canal. The water is low and much of the canal bottom is just greasy black mud. Not that Loki minds much. Mud like water is cool and he's happy in either. I sometimes wonder if he is part pig.

Loki leaves a nice mud trail in the shallow waters of the canal this point.

Muddy enough to turn his white sock markings black. Time for a bath when we get back home.






Still, there is usually always something to see along the canal. Here are some shots of day lilies and hydrangea. Where these came from is anyone's guess since I don't believe either are native to the area and I don't know who would have planted them on the banks of the canal.

But all in all, I would leave this walk for thems that enjoy dank, muddy waters such as the terrapins.

Practical information: Park on the DC side of the Cabin John Creek and follow the trail under the major roads and cross the canal. Turn left on the canal and right before where Cabin John Creek emerges from under canal, follow an unmarked, informal trail to the banks of the Potomac. Distance is about a mile one way. I would only do this trail if there were no better alternatives but it seems to be popular. Lots of cars parked by the bridge and fair number of walkers and bikers present.
Just past the start of the trail there is an unmarked trail to the left. With it's high banks, this looks to be the old route of MacArthur Blvd. After a quarter mile, it rejoins the boulevard.