Discover 5 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Great Falls (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Pennyfield Lock, Great Falls Park, and Olmsted Island. Also, be sure to include Great Falls Grange Hall and Forestville School in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Great Falls (Virginia).
Table of Contents
Pennyfield Lock
The Pennyfield Lock and lockhouse are part of the 184.5-mile Chesapeake and Ohio Canal that operated in the United States along the Potomac River from the 1830s through 1923. The lock, located at towpath mile-marker 19.7, is near River Road in Montgomery County, Maryland. The original lock house was built in 1830, and its lock was completed in 1831.
The name "Pennyfield" is a misspelling of the family name of long-time lock keepers George and Charles Pennifield. George, and then his son Charlie, operated the lock from the 1880s until it was permanently closed. George was an avid fisherman, and once hosted President Grover Cleveland for several days of fishing near the lock.
Today, the lock and restored lock house are part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. The area is a favorite of bird watchers, and the Pennyfield Lock Neighborhood Conservation Area and Dierssen Wildlife Management Area are both accessible using the lock's towpath.[1]
Great Falls Park
National park in Fairfax County, Virginia. Great Falls Park is a small National Park Service site in Virginia, United States. Situated on 800 acres along the banks of the Potomac River in northern Fairfax County, the park is a disconnected but integral part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway. The Great Falls of the Potomac River are near the northern boundary of the park, as are the remains of the Patowmack Canal, the first canal in the United States that used locks to raise and lower boats.[2]
Olmsted Island
Island in Potomac, Maryland. Olmsted Island is a small island in the middle of the Potomac River in the U.S. state of Maryland, near Great Falls which is a part of C & O Canal National Historical Park, located across the river from Great Falls Park. It is a part of Potomac, Maryland.
Named for Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. the landscape architect and preservationist whose famous father designed New York's Central Park, the small island is a bedrock terrace forest that supports rare, threatened and endangered plant species.
The island is very rocky and has steep cliffs that face the river, where it has been eroded over time. It also has trees and vegetation. One might also spy a heron, small lizard or wild goose here. The total area of the island (estimating from calibrated satellite footage) is no more than 0.2 square kilometers. A fenced-in wooden tourist walkway winds along the southern part of the island. For the purpose of protecting the island's natural wildlife, visitors are not allowed to leave the tourist walkway. The tourist walkway eventually ends in a scenic overlook platform (see images 1 and 2) that has a beautiful view of the Great Falls of the Potomac River.
"Hurricane Agnes washed away all the woody shrubs and trees in 1972," says R. Harrison Wiegand, a regional ecologist for the Wildlife and Heritage Service of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. "The next big flood will wash them away again. The floods constantly change things. You may see a rare species in one area, then the floods will come through and wash it out. Some other plants will grow there instead. This is one of the most biologically diverse habitats within the whole national park system."
The trail leading to Olmsted Island is handicapped accessible and has wheelchair ramps, but dogs are not permitted.[3]
Great Falls Grange Hall and Forestville School
The Great Falls Grange Hall and Forestville School are two historic buildings that served as a Grange meeting hall and as a school located in Great Falls, Fairfax County, Virginia. The Forestville School was built in 1889 as a one-room school, and expanded in 1911 with the appendage of the Floris School. It is an "L"-shaped wood-frame structure covered in weatherboards and topped by a standing-seam metal cross-gable roof. After closing as a school in 1922, it served as a residence and then as the Great Falls Post Office from 1959 until 1982. The Great Falls Grange Hall was built in 1929, and is a 1+1⁄2-story brick building with a gable front. It features a front porch supported by concrete pillars in the American Craftsman style. Both buildings are owned by the Fairfax County Park Authority.
The buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.[4]
Address: 9812 Georgetown Pike, Great Falls
William Gunnell House
William Gunnell House, also known as Gunnell's Run, is a historic home located in Great Falls, Fairfax County, Virginia. It consists of a frame dwelling built in two stages and dated to about 1750, together with its compatible and unobtrusive 20th-century additions. The earliest section is a 1 1/2-story frame Colonial-era dwelling with irregular bays and three entrances. It was carefully restored and rehabilitated in the preservation manner of the Colonial Revival style after 1933. Also on the property are a contributing log house outbuilding and two early wells.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.[5]