Patowmack Canal Trail

2.5 miles (4.1 km)

The Patowmack Canal Trail in Great Falls Park begins at the Visitor Center near the Hiram M. Chittenden (Ballard) Locks, where you can park and view boats passing through the aqueduct and locks. From here, a wide, gently graded path follows the old Patowmack Canal bed for roughly 1.4 miles to the Olmsted Island Overlook, making for an easy out-and-back of about 2.8 miles. The trail surface is compacted stone dust, suitable for both walking and cycling, and remains mostly flat with only gentle inclines near the locks.
As you set off, you pass the remains of Canal Locks 3, 4, and 5, with stone walls and lock chambers that once raised boats around the powerful Great Falls rapids. The canal cut itself—where boats re-entered the river before continuing downstream—runs parallel to the Potomac River’s Mather Gorge. Along the way you’ll hear the roar of the falls and may spot kayakers below, while the canal remains calm and sheltered under towering cliffs.
About three-quarters of a mile in, a short spur leads you onto Olmsted Island, where a wheelchair-accessible boardwalk takes you out over the river floodplain to a panoramic overlook of the cascading Great Falls. Returning to the towpath, you continue past more canal ruins and riverside woodland until you reach the turnaround point near the site of Matildaville, the canal company’s 18th-century settlement. Here you can pause among moss-covered lock stones and native hardwoods before retracing your steps back to the locks and Visitor Center.