Little Falls: Waterfalls in Washington DC
If you’re familiar with Washington DC, you’ve probably heard of Great Falls. Located about 40 minutes outside of DC between Maryland and Virginia, Great Falls is gorgeous, powerful, and a sight that many visiting Washington DC want to see.
Very few people, however, know about Little Falls, which is located on the Potomac River in Washington DC at the border with Maryland. As the name suggests, it is much smaller than Great Falls, but it shares a lot of the same characteristics and is worth seeing
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What is Little Falls?
Little Falls really looks like a miniature version of Great Falls. It is a cascade waterfall, where water flows over rocks. Cascades like Great Falls have a series of taller steps in the rocks, transitioning from a higher height and creating more of the dramatic falls most people think of when they think of a waterfall.
While Potomac is bordered by a dramatic cliff on the Virginia side at Little Falls, the cascades don’t have as much of a change in elevation, and so the steps are shorter, creating more of a bubbling effect in the water.
The Washington Aqueduct gets water from the Potomac River and delivers it to homes around the DC area. There is an intake location just below the falls, and there is a platform above the intake from which you can view the falls.
Little Falls is the only natural waterfall in Washington DC that I’m aware of. There are some falls on tributaries into the Potomac in Virginia, and there are some manmade waterfalls at Peirce Mill and Dumbarton Oaks Park in Rock Creek Park. There’s also a little manmade waterfall where the old Tiber Creek flows into the Macmillan Reservoir. But outside of large rains, there aren’t any others that I know of.
The Potomac River’s Fall Line
Little Falls marks the point in the Potomac River that the river is no longer navigable by boat. On the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, this is called the fall line. Early English towns popped up at these points, because it was the furthest inland that boats with goods could travel. It makes sense the Little Falls was chosen as the westernmost point of DC’s borders.
The Fall Line occurs where the topography transitions from the flat coastal plains to the higher (and rockier) Piedmont plateau. This transition goes through the middle of DC, and you can see it on dry land north of Florida Avenue, where the roads suddenly get steeper, like at Florida and 16th Street NW at Malcom X/Meridian Hill Park.
When there is this shift in elevation and a river crosses that line, the change in elevation creates a waterfall. This even happens for creeks, with Quantico Creek in Virginia having a small waterfall at the fall line in Prince William Forest Park.
For the Potomac River, the point where the river is no longer passable by boat is Little Falls in DC. The fall line is more of a zone, though, since over geological time, the river has worn away the rock and the elevation change in the river has shifted upstream to Great Falls. The fall zone is the roughly 14 miles from the elevation change at Great Falls to where the river reaches sea level around Theodore Roosevelt Island in DC.
Chesapeake Bay Magazine has an excellent write up about the fall line if you want to learn more.
How to Get to Little Falls on the Potomac
Little Falls is located near Chain Bridge, right on the border of Maryland and DC. The C&O Canal Towpath brings you the closest, but at this point, the river and the canal are separated by a rocky area to the point where you cannot see the river from the towpath.
Parking & Getting There
My recommendation is to park your car at Fletcher’s Cove and walk from there. Fletcher’s Cove is a popular spot for kayakers off the Clara Barton Parkway, below the Palisades neighborhood. When you drive in, there’s a small parking lot, but if you continue down the hill, there is a larger parking lot. When we went on an afternoon with beautiful weather, there were plenty of open spots in that lower parking lot.
You can also take the C&O Canal Towpath from Georgetown to get here, but it is about 4 miles and would be best for people on bikes.
Walking to the Overlook
It’s about a 40 minute walk from the parking lot to the Little Falls lookout. When you leave the parking lot, you’ll want to turn right so that you are heading west on the C&O Canal Towpath.
At Fletcher’s Cove, there are two paths side by side: C&O Canal Towpath and Capital Crescent Trail. You want to make sure you’re on the C&O Canal Towpath, which is the first path closest to the parking lot so you are walking next to the canal.
Not far from Fletcher’s Cove, the trails diverge, the the Capital Crescent Trail takes a bridge to go on the other side of the canal. If you find yourself on a bridge over the canal, you’re on the wrong path.
You will walk on the towpath for about 1.4 miles, crossing under the Capital Crescent Trail bike & walking bridge and Chain Bridge (which is a heavily trafficked bridge that crosses the Potomac).
After Chain Bridge, you’ll walk about 0.4 miles and see a paved trail on your left.
Take this trail all the way to the river. It will end at a lookout spot from which you can see Little Falls.
What’s Nearby Little Falls in DC
Little Falls is in the Palisades neighborhood of DC, though it’s not quick to get to from the houses and businesses. Because of the topography, it’s cut off from the rest of the neighborhood by cliffs, the busy Clara Barton Parkway and Canal Road, and the canal.
You can walk to the Palisades via the Capital Crescent Trail and a trail into the neighborhood near the Palisades Rec Center.
The Glass Forest, an art installation hidden in the woods, is a walkable distance, but you would likely want to park your car there instead of at Fletcher’s Cove to make the walking more manageable.
You can also walk to some restaurants and coffee shops on MacArthur Boulevard, like the very well received Afghan restaurant, Bistro Aracosia. If you’re taking your dog with you on the adventure, stop by the independent pet store Chien de Luxe to reward them with a special treat.
My biggest recommendations, though, are not walkable and are a quick car ride away.
Jettie’s is one of my favorite salad and sandwich spots in DC. It’s a homage to Cape Cod, and you’ll find lots of references to the Cape in the names of their menu items. The Dreamland sandwich, served hot with turkey, melted brie, and fig jam, is my go to sandwich.
For the art lovers, Kreeger Museum is not far away, and has an excellent collection. Tucked away in the Berkley neighborhood, it features 19th and 20th century paintings, Asian and African art, and modern sculpture. It also has a program dedicated to emerging DC artists.
Should I see Great Falls or Little Falls?
If you are visiting DC for a limited time, I would not suggest taking the time to view Little Falls unless you have a special interest in waterfalls or the history around it. It’s very pretty, but it’s not near the city center, and with a limited time, there’s so much else to see that’s more impressive.
If you love waterfalls and have to choose one or the other, go see Great Falls on the Virginia side. It is breathtaking, and you get to see the real power of the Potomac River.
If you’ve already seen Great Falls from the Virginia side, I would even say see them from the Maryland side before viewing Little Falls. I think Virginia is more impressive, but the Maryland side has its own beauty.
But if you’re like me and are local and have been to Great Falls a bunch of times, Little Falls is a cool way to spend some time exploring the city.
