I never fail to be impressed by the power and the beauty of the Potomac River at Great Falls Park, which I visited this past Friday, my first visit there in quite some time. The Potomac River separates Virginia from Maryland and I took these photos from the overlook points on the Virginia side of the river where the park is located, about 15 miles upriver from our nation’s capital. According to information on the park’s website, “At Great Falls, the Potomac River builds up speed and force as it falls over a series of steep, jagged rocks and flows through the narrow Mather Gorge.”
The waters looked pretty dangerous to me and there were all kinds of signs warning people to stay out of the water and off of the rocks. Apparently, though, kayaking is permitted in certain areas. The final shot shows two tiny kayaks that I spotted as I looked downriver—you may need to click on the image to see the kayakers who are dwarfed by the immensity of the rock formations through which they were passing.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
What a beautiful spot, Mike, and lovely puffy clouds. Great composition in your first image. I’m struck by the counter-clockwise spiral of water, exiting lower right. Although it isn’t the way the water is really flowing it feels powerful.
I have never heard of these falls, and they truly are Great. I enjoyed these photos, Mike, and especially the magnificence of the rock formations. I would imagine plenty of geologists have had a heyday here over the years.
I can imagine that this place is very dangerous but it is also beautiful !
Nowadays, one of the biggest dangers, I think, is people hanging over the edge trying to take selfies.
I’ve seen many shots of this location and am envious of those who are able to visit it. One day. Lucky you, Mike.
Thanks, Steve. Great Falls is less than an hour away (22 miles) from where I live. The Washington DC area is definitely blessed with a variety of great places to visit for natural beauty as well as for history and culture.
Very powerful river. This would be a challenging run on a kayak!
I can imagine the fun that the kayakers would be having! I’d love to see this powerful river and rock formations with my own eyes!
I was in a canoe recently on a lake, the first time I had been in a boat in many years. That is definitely more my speed than white-water kayaking. 🙂
Canoeing is lovely. I did a multi-day river trip many decades ago, an organised group, in 2-person Canadian canoes. It was fantastic! There was one single kayak. I’d no sooner put my foot in it than it turned over and dumped me! I did learn how to get in and get along ok in the kayak but it requires so much care to stay afloat!
I am amazed at the maneuverability of a kayak when it is being controlled by someone who knows what they are doing, but canoes are definitely a lot safer for most of us. I have seen some great photos of water birds taken from boats–apparently the birds don’t perceive people to be as threatening when they are seated and present a lower profile on the water.
Yes that’s true, like Ted’s pelican rookery photos taken from a boat. Wonderful!
My sister-in-law lives in Bethesda and we owe her a visit. One of these days and maybe we can get together.
That would definitely be cool, Steve.
Very Nice Mike! Looks like a Great place to photograph!
It is an amazing place to visit.
Wow. That looks incredible. I’ll have to add Great Falls Park to my list of places to visit.
Thanks, Suzanne. For me, it is an easy call, because it is only a bit over 20 miles from where I live, plus I have a National Park Pass that lets me get in for free.
Nice! When my daughter is in 4th grade we are going to take advantage of the free national park pass and take several vacations to hit as many as we can. Great Falls Park would be a 2 hr drive for me but we pass through that area fairly often when driving from PA to NC to visit family.