Day 256 - C&O Canal at Noland's Ferry

(Click any photo to enlarge.)

Potomac River

Towpath denizen

While I was driving south of Frederick today, I decided to follow New Design Road, just to see where it went.  Turns out, it went and went and went until it ended at the Potomac River, at Noland's Ferry Road.

I saw the sign of the National Park Service for the C&O Canal, so I decided it was meant to be that I do my walk here today.

Entrance to park

According to my research, Noland's Ferry "operated as early as 1758 and there was a community established here with a small town. After the canal was built, farm produce from Virginia was ferried across the canal to be shipped, but  some dissatisfaction with the arrangements caused a bridge to be built here (and you can still see the remains of it).   After the bridge was put in at Point of Rocks, Noland's Ferry business faded."

Tuscarora Pumping Station

As I approached the parking lot, three Frederick County school buses full of kids were leaving the area.  When I parked, there was one man criss-crossing the picnic area, looking for things that might have been left behind.  He also was working down by the boat ramp, so I took a minute to talk to him, remarking that I must have timed it perfectly so that the kids were gone.  He laughed and told me that the kids were one half of the sixth grade at one school, who had been at the park to do some water quality monitoring. 

Recumbent biker

I asked him about the towpath, and which section might provide the better views, but he said it was about the same in either direction.  He told me that in one direction, there was a pumping station for the water treatment plant at Tuscarora, and in the other direction, it was basically a tree covered path.

Pawpaw tree

I decided to walk about a 1/2 mile in one direction, then turn around and walk a 1/2 mile in the other direction, making for about a 2 mile walk today on the towpath.  Along the way, I was accompanied mainly by birds and an occasional biker passing through.  The spring growth of garlic mustard and leaves on the trees really obscured any visibility of the Potomac River.

Daddy long legs

I had a nice, peaceful walk on the C&O canal towpath today.  I doubt when George Washington commissioned the original canal that he was thinking about its use almost 200 years into the future, but I am glad for its existence as a national park today. It's wonderful to have a piece of American history right here in my own backyard.

 Click on any photo to enlarge it.

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Email:  cam.miller@comcast.net

Cam's rules for the Daily Photo Walk:

1. walk every day
2. the walk must be in addition to any other planned activity for the day
3. post a photo every day
4. use whatever camera is easy and convenient for walking comfortably; always have a backup camera at the ready in case of mishaps (I use the Nikon Coolpix P7700)
5. no weather excuses
6. walk only where it is safe to do so