Pohick Creek
Hooes Rd. (Route 636) to Lorton P.O. (Route 1)
| Difficulty | II-III+ |
| Length | 5.6 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 33 fpm |
| Gauge | Accotink Creek at Keene Mill Rd at Springfield, Va |
| Flow Rate as of 1 hour | 7 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | May 20, 2005 |
River Description
Pohick Creek is formed near Burke, and flows for 13 miles to Pohick Bay. It is flat and braided for its first 5.5 miles, down to Hooes Road (the traditional put in). Because it is pretty flat for the next 2 miles as well, which usually also contain some fallen trees, paddlers found a downstream put in, amongst the new housing developments. Take Rolling Road to Northampton Road (heading west), and then turn left onto Pleasant Lake Drive. At the bottom of the hill is a sign and paved footpath into the park; about 300 yards carry brings you to the creek.
There are three particularly memorable rapids. Double Z (class III+) comes less than a mile from the put in, after several class II and II+ rock gardens. You have to make a very sharp left, right, left. With about a foot of water, the rapid is actually easier, because the route widens out and you can bounce through holes instead of crashing into rocks. Pohick Falls (class III) comes soon thereafter and is more straightforward, but it is easy to flip in the turbulence at the bottom, where the creek is funneled into a narrow chute. It too is less technical at higher levels. Lorelei Ledge (class II+), almost at the end of the trip, is wide and often scrapey; at higher levels it becomes class III because of the hole that forms at the bottom (except on a more gradual route on the far left).
Strainers can be a problem, but Jeff Davis organizes periodic strainer removals (one was in April 2002), which help immensely. The scenery is generally pleasant, although houses are encroaching. And donÂt miss the graffiti art gallery beneath I-95.
If you donÂt stop to scout or play, this trip takes only about one hour. But if you head down there after work from DC, allow more time than that for the drive on I-95. Below US 1, the creek continues for two miles, at 10 feet/mile, to Pohick Bay, which opens into Gunston Cove and then the Potomac River.
Ed Evangelidi testifies:
A classic small creek
...River Features
Put In
Take Out
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportNEW IMPASSIBLE SEIVE. In the 3 mile section of Pohick Creek between Hooes Road (the traditional put-in) and the Pohick Road bridge, the Fairfax County Cross County Trail crosses the stream 6 times. At the first five crossings, there are concrete stepping stones in the water. At the sixth, a concrete footbridge was installed July 2021. The bottom of the bridge is 2 feet above the river bed and the original stepping stones were left in place under the bridge. THIS BRIDGE IS AN IMPASSIBLE WOOD-CATCHING SEIVE. The new footbridge is about 75 yards downstream of the fifth trail crossing. TO AVOID THE SEIVE, TAKE OUT ON RIVER RIGHT AT THE FIFTH TRAIL CROSSING. It’s a short carry along the trail to an easy launch point just below the bridge. If you lose count of the crossings, you can identify the fifth crossing by watching for major high voltage power transmission lines crossing high above the river. These power lines are just downstream of, and are visible from, the fifth crossing. The power line right-of-way, which is cleared of trees for 50 yards on both sides of the river, is also visible from the fifth trail crossing. If you miss the take out at the fifth trail crossing, there may be an emergency take out at some water levels on river right at the very downstream end of the cleared area for the power lines. There are highly visible yellow petroleum line marker poles on each side of the river here. DO NOT GO PAST THESE POLES. The bridge is about 25 yards downstream and the banks below this point are mostly steep and brush covered and it will be extremely difficult/impossible to take off the river in this short stretch.
If you use the alternative put in—that is carrying down the footpath from Lake Pleasant Drive—you will be launching on river left at the fifth trail crossing. To avoid the footbridge sieve 75 yards downstream, you will need to ferry directly across the river, take out on the trail ramp on river right, and then make the short carry along the trail to an easy launch point just below the bridge.
Other hazards on this section are the stepping stones at the first five crossings and wood in the river. The stepping stones are wood magnets and un-runnable at low levels. At higher water levels they are underwater but may still have trapped wood. Even at very low levels, it will be difficult to get out your boat upstream and lift it over the stepping stones. The river may be waist deep upstream of the stepping stones even at minimal flows and the concrete slabs that cover the stream bed downstream of the steeping stones are likely to be covered by moss and slime and be extremely slippery. There is also likely to be a lots of wood elsewhere in the river. Most of the first 2 miles of this section are not visible from the trail but in the parts that are visible there are 2 river-wide logs blocking passage as of August 2021. In the third mile of this section which begins at the footbridge trail crossing, wood is blocking two significant rapids that are visible from the trail as of August 2021.
Ned Howenstine
From a report sent to members of the Canoe Cruiser's Assn. and the Blue Ridge voyagers canoe club.
'As of mid April 2018 a log jam was blocking the top part of Double Z Rapid. Exiting boat multiple yards above is not difficult (at 300 cfs).'
Had a pin today on the first rapid. Creek needs clean up bad, very sketchy recovery. @ 1050 cfs
We ran the section on 14Mar2010 with 167-238 cfs on the Accotink at Annandale gauge. Fun but not superhigh level. Fairfax Parkway (i.e. Hooes Rd. put-in) bridge had painted white mark without numbers on the river left downstream side; 2/3 of mark was above water. Many strainers (10?), especially in upper section, but with very creative limboing only two required portaging. Gorge section was class III with lots of fun maneuvering. Next time would probably try to find the suggested intermediate put-in to cut off some of the flatish water at the beginning.
Watch out for the damn near the takeout. It is only about 2 feet high but feels and looks rather powerful. My group blundered into in the dark and although we punched the corner without issue, I'd keep an eye out for it.
We ran this section of the Pohick yesterday 10/27/07 @ 470cfs. It was a great run lots of fun. We had to portage 4 or 5 trees but none were in places too dangerous.