Potomac, Maryland, US
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2. Violette's Lock/GW Canal Loop/Violette's to Pennyfield/Seneca Breaks
Usual Difficulty |
I-II (for normal flows) |
Length |
3.4 Miles |
The Surfer's Hole @ the GW Canal
The Surfer's Hole @ the GW CanalPhoto of Jeff Davis by Mark Anderson taken 06/15/01 @ 3.7 Ft
Gauge Information
River Description
The Violette's Lock/GW Canal run on the Potomac river is an excellent run for paddlers who
are working on their skills. Local canoe clubs use this river section extensively for training.
The rapids are Class I-II in nature and are appropriate for practiced novice and higher skilled
boaters.
The river seems to pick up a lot of strainers here, so be on the lookout for ever-changing
obstructions. With use of the watered C & O Canal on the Maryland side of the river, this run
has the additional advantage of not requiring a shuttle. (The river can be run in the main
channel through an area known as area of islands and river debris known as the Seneca Breaks, but
this isn't the traditional run.) In simplist terms, paddle down the river, then paddle back
up the canal.
The river section, located near the Virginia bank of the Potomac, is accessed from the
Violette's Lock picnic area along the C & O Canal (see directions below). To putin, walk
across the canal bridge and follow a faint trail to the right and down to the river bank at the
top of a canal feeder channel. Paddle across the river, which is very wide here, above the old
canal dam. Enter a river right channel on the Virginia shore and you are on the commonly run
portion of the river. Parts of this intimate channel are formed by the old George Washington
canal, a failed Virginia-side canal project that has now been retaken by the river here.
Once in the channel, the current picks up. Strainers are a constant problem, so please be aware
and make sure you have the skill to avoid them. The first rapid is an open rock garden good for
eddy turn practice. The next rapid is the Surfer's Hole that maintains a friendly hydraulic
at many levels. Below here, there is a rapid with a ledge formation constricting most of the
water into a narrow right-side slot. In late June 2001, this channel was mostly-blocked by
potentially dangerous strainers, so stop and take a look. Paddlers with excellent boat control
may be able to find their way around the trees on the far left of the right slot, but the route
is complicated. There is also an S-turn that starts river left, and a final set of drops and
chutes.
All told, the channel run is about 1 1/2 miles. After the chute drop, you can paddle back up an
adjoining channel and out into the main flow of the Potomac. Ferry across the river to the
Maryland side. During most of the year, when the National Park Service (NPS) waters the
C&O Canal, you can takeout at a dirt bank and trail on the Maryland side. This trail leads to
the C & O Canal. Put-in here and paddle north (upstream) back to the Violette's Lock
picnic area. (Total run is 3.4 miles.) During the winter when the NPS dewaters the canal
(or any other time you'd find running a shuttle to preferable to paddling the canal) an
alternative is to run downstream to Pennyfield Lock (Total run is 3.3 miles) or Swain's
Lock (Total run is 6.3 miles), both also on the Maryland side.
Directions: The Violette's Lock picnic area is off of River Road (Route 190) in
Montgomery County, Maryland about 8 miles north of Potomac, MD. From Potomac, travel north on
River Road to a left turn onto Violette's Lock road. The turn is easy to miss. Its about a
half a mile before the intersection of Route 112. You will know you have gone too far if you come
to the stop sign and a sharp left bend in River Road.
StreamTeam Status: Not Verified
Last Updated: 2017-11-25 18:56:56
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