Scott Run
Old Dominion Drive to Potomac River
| Difficulty | II-IV(V+) |
| Length | 2 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 75 fpm |
| Gauge | Difficult Run Near Great Falls, Va |
| Flow Rate as of 34 minutes | 46 cfsbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | November 21, 2010 |
Scott Run is a small, steep park-&-huck. As with many small steeps, scout for wood before running it.
Scott Run - McLean, Virginia
February 23, 2003
After having driven over Scott Run on Georgetown Pike for years and never having seen any significant water in the streambed, I finally had the chance to run this small, urban creek. Scott Run drains the Tyson's Corner watershed which includes both malls and all of the commercial businesses in the area. Thus, the water contains a lot of pollutants. However, the water appeared to be much cleaner than nearby Difficult Run. With such a small watershed, this may be the most difficult of the local creeks to catch with water. We ran Scott Run the day following 2.6' of local heavy rain falling on 24' of recent snowfall. The level had been much higher the day before as indicated by the melted snow along the banks.
We parked at the Fairfax County Park Authority trailhead off of Georgetown Pike and hiked upstream along Swinks Mill Road to where Scott Run crosses under the road. This made for a run of a little more than a mile and added a couple of fun class III drops. The nature of the creek was continuous class II boogie water separated by at least ten distinct class III technical rapids until you reached the gorge. The creek had an average width of 15-20', but necked down significantly at each of the rapids. A typical rapid narrowed to 10' in width as the current cut diagonally left or right around large boulders with a total drop of a couple of feet. This made for some delightful, technical paddling. There was a large boulder sieve rapid about halfway through the run that was the exception to the rule. The boulders formed a dam that crossed the entire stream and at the flow we ran the creek provided a rocky route on the left or right. It made for an abrupt drop of three to four feet. There were also two concrete ped
...Jun 5, 2006
This rapid is so much fun. There are lines on both sides and you have to link three and four moves together before you get to the eddy above the falls. If the water is high enough in the Potomac (many, many stars aligning) you can run the final twenty feet of gradient. Even without the waterfall, this rapid is high quality.
The rain came, and came, and came some more.... 13 inches in three days. Scott's Run is a rare treat that offers several fun class 3 rapids and the final gorge that gets close to class 5.
May 20, 2005
sticky holes at this level and the speed of the flow when you turn the bend into the george makes the normal class IV approach rapids solid class V's, espectially with the added wood blocking the river right line.
This is what Scott's Run Falls usually looks like because the Potomac River is rearly above 6 ft while Scott's is running in convenient combination creating a nice cushiny pool to drop into. When the river is anywhere below 5.5 and the falls clearly drop onto rocks this rapid becomes class V+ at any level on Scott's. When it is this high you could run it anywhere because of the power off of and around the landing zone. Not much lower then this the only line is far river left to avoid a painful 'clapper'. The falls also grow in hight up to 25 ft. though this pic does it no justice.
the crux of the falls is in the set up on this hard banking left turn perpelling off the river right wall just above the falls
shows the power comin off the rocks below. The bottom left of this pic is the boofing point to get to the river left landing zone below the falls before you have to fairy below the falls to get out. Getting to the river right pool from the right side of the drop is near impossible, if you didn't make it, there is also some possible hole trashing at that side of the falls.
Apr 2, 2005
This is a good reference flow at the put, seeing that there is no gauge for this run, at least that I know of. Georgetown Pike in the background at the Scott's Run trialhead parkinglot.
Random ledge hole, tipifies most of the run prior to the gradient of the george and the drop to the Potomac.
Looking back up the class four george approaching the falls. Watch out for fresh wood!! It'll keep you on your toes with this run.
At this level it is pretty forgiving. You can approach the falls from the river right side eddy at the bottom of the pic or go all the way down the left and you can even pretty much go off the fall anywhere over the lip. When the Potomac is lower and the rocks are exposed at the bottom middle of the drop you must drop into this chute side ways from the river left, get left, stay left, and boof to the left to avoid clapping the rocks off an 18 footer.
