Wednesday, July 1, 2020

Go Visit: Whites Ferry

 There is still an operating ferry in the DC area.  Whites Ferry crosses the Potomac near Poolesville in Maryland and Leeseburg in Virginia.  You can take your car across it.  You pay when you get on the barge, no need to pay in advance.  If you have never been on a ferry, it is a fun trip.  I used to commute from Maryland to Dulles, VA and would take the trip twice a day, it was much more enjoyable than being stuck in traffic on the American Legion Bridge.

 Here is the store and grill attached to the ferry, I'm not sure if it is open right now due to CoViD-19

Whites Ferry is also a great place to start a walk or bike ride along the C and O canal.  The canal doesn't have water in this area, but the tow path is in good condition and made of compacted crushed stone dust.  The canal runs all the way from Georgetown in Washington DC to Cumberland, MD.  A total of 186 miles.

Here is the remains of a tunnel that took a creek under the canal, and behind it, a bridge that used to take vehicles over the canal to the ferry.

 Looking south down the canal.  On the right is the tow path, on the left, between the trees is river road.

River Road goes all the way to Whites Ferry, It is a narrow gravel road by the end.

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