Great Falls Park

Author's Comments

Three overlooks, each one a different argument for the same river. I have stood at all three on the same afternoon and they do not repeat themselves. Overlook 1 gives you the full width of the falls, the Potomac breaking apart over the ancient rocks, and on a clear October evening the light comes in low and raking and turns the water into something you would not believe if you had not seen it. That is the postcard view and it earns that status. But I keep returning to Overlook 3. Mather Gorge stretches out from the cliff edge there with a depth that the other two do not offer. The river narrows and the walls come up and you are suddenly aware that this is not just a waterfall but a canyon, and the canyon is inside a suburb, which is its own kind of miracle. Late afternoon in early November is when I find it most compelling, the trees stripped enough to see the gorge walls clearly, the light still warm enough to pull color from the rock. Come in March if you want drama. Spring flood stage on the Potomac is a different experience entirely. The volume of water in a high-water year is genuinely frightening from above, white and loud and indifferent. A wide lens is almost mandatory. But go early, because this park fills by nine on a weekend morning and the overlooks become difficult to work.

Gallery