The Potomac River is found within the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands into the Chesapeake Bay. The river is approximately 405 miles (652 km) long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles (38,000 km2). In terms of area, this makes the Potomac River the fourth largest river along the Atlantic coast of the United States and the 21st largest in the United States. Over 5 million people live within the Potomac watershed.
Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Part of Northern Virginia, Fairfax County borders both the City of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. The county is thus predominantly suburban in character, with some urban and rural pockets.
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park is located in the District of Columbia and the state of Maryland. The park was established in 1961 as a National Monument by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to preserve the neglected remains of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and many of its original structures. The canal and towpath trail extends along the Potomac River from Georgetown, Washington, D.C., to Cumberland, Maryland, a distance of 184.5 miles (296.9 km). In 2013, the path was designated as the first section of U.S. Bicycle Route 50.
The Potomac Heritage Trail, also known as the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail or the PHT, is a designated National Scenic Trail corridor spanning parts of the mid-Atlantic and upper southeastern regions of the United States that will connect various trails and historic sites in the states of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. The trail network includes 710 miles (1,140 km) of existing and planned sections, tracing the outstanding natural, historical, and cultural features of the Potomac River corridor, the upper Ohio River watershed in Pennsylvania and western Maryland, and a portion of the Rappahannock River watershed in Virginia. The trail is managed by the National Park Service.
The Huron–Clinton Metroparks system is a regional park system in Metro Detroit in the U.S. state of Michigan. The park system includes 13 parks totaling more than 24,000 acres (97 km2) arranged along the Huron River and Clinton River forming a partial ring around the metro area. Plans are in development to finish the ring by building hike/bike trails to connect all the parks as a green belt. The parks draw about 7.5 million visitors a year, down from a peak of 10 million in 2009. The park system is primarily tax-funded with a $50 million annual budget. The system provide employment for 200 full-time and part-time employees year-round and 1,000 additional summer workers. The rivers are prime fishing and canoeing streams with Delhi Metropark including a short rapids, which while runnable, is the only point other than dams on either stream normally portaged.
NOVA Parks is an inter-jurisdictional organization that owns and operates more than 10,000 acres of woodlands, streams, parks, trails, nature reserves, countryside and historic sites in Northern Virginia in the United States. The Authority was organized in 1959. NOVA Parks presently operates 33 regional parks.
Great Falls Park is a small National Park Service (NPS) site in Virginia, United States. Situated on 800 acres (3.65 km2) 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.
Bull Run is a 32.8-mile-long (52.8 km) tributary of the Occoquan River that originates from a spring in the Bull Run Mountains in Loudoun County, Virginia, and flows south to the Occoquan River. Bull Run serves as the boundary between Loudoun County and Prince William County, and between Fairfax County and Prince William County.
Hemlock Overlook Regional Park is a small multi-use park near Clifton, Virginia which also doubles as an Outdoor Education Center operated by Adventure Links. The facility offers a popular rope course for schools and other groups, focusing on team development. The rest of the park offers hilly woodlands and floodplain scenery and is a good place for hiking, horse riding and canoeing on the Bull Run river.
Kettle Creek State Park is a 1,793-acre (726 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Leidy Township, Clinton County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is in a valley and is surrounded by mountains and wilderness. It features the Alvin R. Bush Dam built in 1961 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a flood control measure in the West Branch Susquehanna River basin. Many of the recreational facilities at the park were built during the Great Depression by the young men of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Kettle Creek State Park is seven miles (10 km) north of Westport and Pennsylvania Route 120. It is largely surrounded by Sproul State Forest.
Difficult Run is a 15.9-mile-long (25.6 km) tributary stream of the Potomac River in Northern Virginia in the United States. The area has had many historical uses dating back to the early 1800s. Today, the area is used recreationally by visitors interested in the watershed's variety of options including hiking, biking, fishing, boating, climbing, and bird watching. The wildlife at Difficult Run is vast as 163 different species can be seen depending on the season. There are 41 different soil types found on the trail and alongside the stream. The stream is part of the greater 57.7- square-mile Drainage basin, or watershed, located in the north-central portion of Fairfax County and drains directly to the Potomac River.
Lake Accotink is a reservoir in North Springfield in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Lake Accotink is formed by the damming of Accotink Creek. The lake is surrounded by Lake Accotink Park.
Douthat State Park is a state park located in the Allegheny Mountains in Virginia. It is in Bath County and Alleghany County. The park is 4,545 acres (18 km2) total with a 50-acre (20 ha) lake.
Little Hunting Creek is a 3.6-mile-long (5.8 km) primarily tidal tributary of the Potomac River located in Fairfax County, Virginia, not to be confused with Hunting Creek farther north. A stone-arch bridge, completed in 1931, carries traffic on the George Washington Memorial Parkway across the narrow mouth of the creek, located 96.6 miles (155.5 km) upriver from the mouth of the Potomac. The Washington family built its Mount Vernon plantation on the Potomac River along both banks of Little Hunting Creek during colonial times. The creek is bordered by residential communities in addition to the Mount Vernon property. It is a popular location for recreational fishing, and much of the wildlife characteristic of the tidal Potomac wetlands can be spotted there.
Cameron Run is a 3.0-mile-long (4.8 km) tributary stream of the Potomac River, located in the U.S. state of Virginia. A third-order stream, it is formed by the confluence of Backlick Run and Holmes Run. It flows eastward from Alexandria and forms the border between Fairfax County and Alexandria before opening into Hunting Creek and then into the Potomac River. The lower course near Eisenhower Avenue is largely channelized and flows just north of the Capital Beltway until it crosses under it near Telegraph Road The lower 1 mile (1.6 km) or so is tidal and was navigable in colonial times. Cameron Run Regional Park, a water park, lies along a portion of the stream. Cameron Run is part of the Cameron Run Watershed, which encompasses a total of 44 square miles (110 km2) in Northern Virginia. The Watershed is made up of eight subwatersheds: Tripps Run, Upper Holmes Run, Lower Holmes Run, Turkeycock Run, Backlick Run, Indian Run, Pike Branch, and Cameron Run and its tributaries.
Pohick Bay Regional Park is a regional park on Pohick Bay of the Potomac River, in Fairfax County, northern Virginia.
The Occoquan River is a tributary of the Potomac River in Northern Virginia, where it serves as part of the boundary between Fairfax and Prince William counties. The river is 24.7 miles (39.8 km) long, and its watershed covers about 590 square miles (1,528 km2). It is formed by the confluence of Broad Run and Cedar Run in Prince William County; Bull Run, which forms Prince William County's boundary with Loudoun and the northerly part of Fairfax counties, enters it east-southeast of Manassas, as the Occoquan turns to the southeast. It reaches the Potomac at Belmont Bay. The Occoquan River is part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The name Occoquan is derived from a Doeg Algonquian word translated as "at the end of the water".
The Bull Run-Occoquan Trail (BROT) is a hiking trail in the U.S. state of Virginia. Designated in 2006 as a National Recreation Trail, the Bull Run-Occoquan Trail invites hikers and horseback riders to discover more than 4,000 acres of scenic woodlands.
Powhatan State Park is a state park located along the James River in Virginia. It is in Powhatan County. The park is 1,565 acres (6 km2) total with a 2-mile (3.2 km) of riverfront.
Wolf Run Shoals was an important crossing point on the Occoquan River in northern Virginia between Alexandria and Richmond during the 18th and 19th centuries. It consisted of three islands and a mill, now submerged under the Occoquan due to higher water levels following damming for flood control, water supply, and power generation. It is located near the unincorporated communities of Butts Corner, Makleys Corner, and Farrs Corner in southern Fairfax County, Virginia.
