The Great Falls of the Potomac River are located upstream (to the northwest) of which US city?
Great Falls (Potomac River) Great Falls (Potomac River) Great Falls is a series of rapids and waterfalls on the Potomac River, upstream from Washington, D.C., on the border of Montgomery County, Maryland and Fairfax County, Virginia. Great Falls Park, operated by the National Park Service, is located on the southern banks in Virginia, while Chesapeake and Ohio Canal parkland is located along the northern banks of the river in Maryland. The Potomac and the falls themselves are legally entirely within Maryland, with the state and county boundaries following the south bank of the river. Scenic views are offered on both the Maryland side and
Great Falls (Potomac River) of in elevation over a distance of less than . The Potomac narrows significantly as it passes over the falls and through Mather Gorge. Heavy rain or snow in the watershed upstream causes white-water floods which entirely submerge the rocks and even threaten the adjacent park visitor center (built on stilts for this reason). A pillar at the Virginia overlook, well above the river, marks the level of the . The rocks which form the falls and river gorge are a strongly metamorphized schist. Various attempts to build canals around Great Falls were undertaken. The remains of the Patowmack Canal