Billy Goat Trail

Saturday we went to (and hiked) the Billy Goat Trail.

The trail is on an island on the Maryland side of the Potomac River, opposite the Virginian Great Falls Park.

It is very rocky as you can see in this picture and follows the river in a C shape. To close the trail there is a smooth 'towpath'.

The towpath follows the canal side of the island and goes from Georgetown in Washington DC through Harper's Ferry several hundred kilometers away to Cumberland (pdf) for a total length of 185 miles.







The towpath on the C&O (Chesapeake and Ohio) Canal.

This was used so horses could tow barges up and down the canal.











There are locks along the way.













We got close to some big herons.













And turtles.