C & O canal at Edward's Ferry

The weather is cooling off, but there is still time to enjoy the outdoors. On Thursday I decided to walk along the C & O Canal and see how the leaves were changing.

I went to Edward's Ferry, it is about 45 minutes from Bethesda, MD, but isn't nearly as crowded as the canal around Great Falls or Swain's lock can be.  Edward's ferry is right at lock 25.  The lockhouse has been maintained and you can even rent it for the night.

There used to be a small community at the ferry, there isn't much left, but this building has been partially re-built.  I went here a number of years ago and at the time, this was two-story ruins.  It is hard to say how much of the brickwork is original and how much is rebuilt, but I think a lot of it is rebuilt.

If you walk north along the canal for about a mile you get to a place where the canal went over a stream called Broad Run.  The stone work is all still here, and the creek flows across the canal and under the tow path.

Here is how the trail looks north of Edward's Ferry., lots of greens and yellows this time of year.

Just a little south of Edward's ferry is what is left of the Goose Creek river lock (Goose Creek in Virginia enters the Potomac on the other side of the river). This is actually a combination of two locks, this picture was taken from the lower one looking up at the upper one.

Here's is the Potomac river looking north. If you look closely you may be able to see the boat launch ramp at Edward's ferry on the right.

Another view of the river lock right where it connects to the river.

Just a little further south is the Chisel Branch hiker/biker campsite.  It has a picnic table, grill, and port-a-potty.

While on my walk I saw a nice deer crossing the trail and this red fox.  He was a bit suspicious of me and kept his distance.

I also drove to the next access spot at Sycamore Landing.  There is a soybean field right next to the parking lot, and of course, miles of towpath to walk on.