My Favorite Launch Point Is Called Seneca Creek, a Small River Just Off the Potomac River

Amphicar Friendly Waterways Seneca Creek, Maryland

Randy Bograd Montgomery Village, Maryland 20886 Blue ‘67

Seneca Creek Randy’s Home

My favorite launch point is called Seneca Creek, a small tributary of the Potomac River in Seneca, Maryland. This is above the famous Great Falls area and is considered the Upper Potomac. It’s about 20 miles north of where the Potomac flows past Washington, D.C. There is a free public ramp on Riley’s Lock Rd. The ramp puts me into Seneca Creek and from there it’s just a few hundred yards into the wide- open Potomac. It’s about a 20-minute ride from my home to Seneca, depending on traffic lights.

See also: http://thecocanal.homestead.com/rileys.html

http://www.mcmullans.org/geoweb/Maps/NPS_Ma ps/Map NPS Poolesville.htm

More ↓ Looking at the boat ramp from the Seneca Aqueduct. The Potomac River is at the photographer’s back.

Here I am, launching into Seneca Creek. It was soon after heavy rain and the water was full of silt.

More ↓ Running parallel to the Potomac on the Maryland side (my side) is the historic Chesapeake & Ohio Canal (i.e, the C&O Canal) which runs 120 miles from D.C. to Cumberland, MD. It was used between 1820 and 1920, primarily to carry coal by barge to D.C. The canal builders constructed aqueducts over tributaries such as Seneca, since the canal was at a higher elevation. So my passage to the river requires I go under the Seneca aqueduct. This is no problem when the water flow is normal, but on high- flow days it’s a little tight. I guess they weren’t anticipating Amphicars back in 1820.

More ↓ There is a lot of recreational use of the river, but it’s big and wide so it’s never crowded. I always head upstream. Small rapids begin about a half-mile downstream. I can exit the river 2 miles upstream on the Virginia side.

Maryland This is my normal swim. I can continue up river another 4 miles and come to Edward’s Ferry, where there is another landing. Another 2 miles past that takes me to White’s Ferry, which runs a little 10-car About 2 miles ferry across the river. I actually got a standing ovation from several boaters when I elected to by-pass the ferry and swim across the river.

Virginia

More ↓ There are few amenities at the launch point. There are a couple of port-a-potties and a picnic area. Food and gas can be purchased about 1.5 miles away, at the intersection of Darnestown Rd (Rt. 28) and Seneca Rd. [Seneca Rd. is Food and shown in red.] Gas

Launch point

More ↓ On a few occasions I’ve driven to the river only to find that it is flowing too fast. While any time I take the Amphi out is a fun trip, it always better if I can actually put it in the water. I have since found a website supported by the U.S. Geological Survey that shows me in near-real time what the water flow is like. The site for Seneca Creek is at: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/md/nwis/uv?01645000

The chart gives me a running 7-day history. The purple triangles indicate mean flow averaged over 73 years, and that is pretty much where my comfort zone is. I was at the river on Saturday, March 27th, and even with that little spike, the main river was too fast, but I was able to cruise in the Creek. As you can see, big rains came the evening of March 31st.