Circumnavigating Lake Bernard Frank

I have hiked around the Lake Needwood area a few times, but had never visited its sister lake, Lake Bernard Frank. Last weekend, I finally did. 

I started from the southern end of Lake Needwood, walking on the Rock Creek Greenway. Then I took an offshoot trail east, to the shore of Lake Bernard Frank. All of this is paved, as is the first part of the trail circumnavigating the trail.

It's a pretty lake, and mostly easy going except one wet stream crossing. Be warned that LBF has no restrooms - the nature center is closed except to reserved, organized groups, and there are no port-a-potties.

After the circumnavigation, I took the same trail back. All told, it was 10 miles.

C&O end-to-end, miles 19-27

This next section of the C&O starts off with another really nice stretch. Between Pennyfield Lock and Rileys Lock, the scenery is varied. Much of the canal is watered, and the Potomac is pleasantly rocky and unnavigable. Occasional rock cuts add vertical visual relief.

Past Rileys Lock, the path becomes more monotonous. It's pretty, but less variable. On one side is the Potomac, looking more placid, and on the other is the dry canal and trees. At quiet Sycamore Landing (nothing but a boat launch, not even a port-a-potty), I turned around.

I did this one on a weekday, so it was uncrowded.

C&O end-to-end, miles 12-19

This section of the C&O starts off with what is possibly the most scenic part of the entire towpath, so it's a good thing I had done it before and didn't get distracted by side trails or by too many photo stops!

Since this was right after the time change, I started a little later than ideal - at least for Old Angler's parking area, which fills up fast. But I managed to get a spot, and headed west through the crowds. Although sunny, it was quite windy; my hat tried to blow away.

The trail itself is very pretty heading to Great Falls, and of course Great Falls is, well, great. The best views of it aren't had from the C&O Towpath itself. Normally, I would spend some time detouring here.

Once past Great Falls, the crowds thinned out considerably. Most of the rest of the trail to Pennyfield Lock is what I think of as typical C&O: It's pretty, with views of the Potomac, the canal at various water levels, and the occasional rock cut.

I walked a little past mile 19 to Pennyfield Lock, had lunch, and turned around. This is a section with no efficient alternative route back. There are lots of side trails that up the mileage considerably. I did change up the last mile and a half or so by taking the Berme Trail on the other side of the canal. 

The hike was a little over seven miles each way, but with a few side trips to restrooms and the like, it came in at over 15 total.

C&O end-to-end, miles 5-12

Hike #2 on the C&O Canal Towpath! The weather was much improved this time as I started off from mile 5, where I previously left off. This hike took me past the beltway and into double digits.

T thinks I've done most of this section already, but I don't remember much of it. At least one part of it was closed for the past year or two for rebuilding, and I know last time I was there we used the detour.

There is actually a fair bit of interesting things to see in this section, so it's not all counting mileposts and lockhouses. There is a kayak run, a private canoe club, the Little Falls dam and pumphouse, and Carderock. It also passes both ends of Billy Goat C; confusingly, one end is marked closed. On the other hand, with the world as it is, my capacity for taking in surprises is used up, so a highly predictable trail feels kind of nice.

I turned around at the bridge to the parking lot at Old Angler's Inn, around mile 12.2.

As a practical consideration, there is a good stretch at the beginning of this section where there are no restrooms. If needed, one could stop in the woods, although some stretches offer more privacy than others. (Despite the construction, there are open port-a-potties at mile 5.) Parking at mile 5 is not at the canal itself, again due to construction, but there is parking in the neighborhood nearby.

The name is the best part

This weekend I did a shorter hike on Sunday, notable only because I finally did the Whistle Pig Loop, the only trail in the complex of trails northwest of Black Hill I hadn't yet completed. This short trail loops around a field. It is overgrown in warmer months and usually muddy. At least this time of year the vegetation was tamed.

While the trail itself isn't much, the clouds were spectacular.

You can't park at this trail; I chose to park at Bucklodge, a creepy trail which has not grown on me at all with more visits. You could also park on Clarksburg Road and take Ten Mile to Danger Noodle to Jewelweed to Whistle Pig. Neither trailhead has restrooms or amenities, so plan ahead.

Another long training hike

My first long hike of February was 10 miles in Black Hill, covering territory I regularly see. We've had a very snowy year so far, and I wanted to get some miles in without snow - and before the snow and ice that was forecast for that day, starting at noon. So I did I quick local hike, home by lunchtime.

C&O end-to-end, miles 0-5

This year, I intend to hike the entire C&O Canal Towpath, starting at mile 0 and working my way northwest to mile 184.5. The idea is to do it in order, to get a sense of how it changes along the route.

I started yesterday at the Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro stop and walked to mile 0 in Georgetown. After snapping a photo at the mile marker, I then had to walk to the start of the towpath - promptly to be greeted with detour signs. Not auspicious, perhaps, but any official detour counts, and I've walked that section before. 

Just before Key Bridge, the detour ended, and I looked out on a lumpy blanket of ice. Two weeks of snow had compacted rather than melted. I had brought an old pair of traction devices with me, which kept me from sliding about. The ice kept most folks away; it was odd to have the trail nearly to myself on a nice weekend day. It was even odder where the towpath runs parallel to the Capital Crescent Trail, and not ten feet away there were crowds.

Not far past the DC border is mile marker 5. If it had been any other day of the week, I could have gone another five miles and caught a bus back to the Metro, but it doesn't run on Sundays. Instead, I crossed the Clara Barton on a pedestrian bridge and took a woods trail uphill to the Capital Crescent Trail, following it back to Foggy Bottom. My total mileage was 12 miles, although only five were on the C&O.

First long hike of the year

I am trying to do more long hikes this year, but January so far has not been conducive to long hikes. This is the second weekend in a row with a big snowstorm! So my 10-mile hike was simply in my local Black Hill Regional Park.

First hike of 2025

Usually I start the year with a new year's day hike, but this year my day was spent on an airplane. My first real hike was a modest one, a restart after a few weeks of minimal hiking and walking. For this, I chose to travel well-worn trails at Black Hill Regional Park.

The weather was cold, high 20s, but it felt colder due to strong winds, and a light dusting of snow made it look more wintry. Few people were out.

The most interesting sight was this road, being built across the park entrance on Old Baltimore Road. The Field Crest Spur trail comes right out to the edge of OBR, but it is not a safe place to cross. There is only one pedestrian crossing of Old Baltimore, farther west, and the road in between does not consistently have walkable shoulders. West of that crossing there are sidewalks - but you can't get from the sidewalks to the trail. It would be nice if they found some way to link the park to the increasing number of homes built just to the north. 

(Okay - sure, there is one other crossing of OBR 2.5 miles west of Field Crest Spur - but you can't get there from those houses, either.)

Aside from this, the hike was a pleasant jaunt in the cold. It came in just shy of 6 miles, with the usual sub-100 feet per mile elevation gain of the area.