Self-guided Waterfall Hiking Tour through Great Falls National Park in Maryland booking from $5.00

Self-guided Waterfall Hiking Tour through Great Falls National Park

Overview

Amble along the cliffs overlooking the Potomac River, taking in thundering waterfalls, exciting rock climbing excursions, and the region’s most perilous kayaking spots. On this self-guided audio tour, you’ll have an opportunity to explore a few hidden gems found on the Great Falls Park trails. I’ll also show you one of my favorite, wilder paths at the national park - all guided step-by-step through GPS.

You’ll see that there’s much more to Great Falls than its viewing platforms. I’ll point you in the direction of the areas tourists don't know about, including views of hidden waterfalls, the region's best rock climbing and rappelling spots, and a route along the canal and through an abandoned colonial-era city. There are also several opportunities to go off-trail to get up-close with the rapids at the falls and, if you're lucky, you might even see a daredevil kayaker trying their luck.

This tour can take up to two hours and, while it’s not especially strenuous, it’s plenty exciting!

City: Maryland

Sun 22 Dec

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Starting at $5.00

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Sun 22 Dec

Starting at $5.00

Make a reservation

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What's Included

Audio Tour - GPS triggered and hands free

Additional Info

Public transportation options are available nearby
Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
Not recommended for pregnant travelers
Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
Hand sanitiser available to travellers and staff
Regularly sanitised high-traffic areas
Gear/equipment sanitised between use
Transportation vehicles regularly sanitised
Guides required to regularly wash hands
Regular temperature checks for staff
The tour is outdoors, but there can be crowds near the visitor's center, so face masks are optional, but recommended. There are several viewpoints that do not have barriers, and children should be supervised at those locations.

What To Expect

Great Falls Park

Great Falls Park - the 3rd largest waterfalls in the United States, and one of the largest national parks immediately accessible to Washington DC. With a $20 vehicle access pass (not included in Viator package), you will have full access to the extensive Great Falls Park grounds and trails. The Viator package includes a guided step-by-step audio tour, including a walking map that syncs to your phone's GPS, as well as a narrated tour with over an hour of commentary about Great Falls and its hidden treasures.

Potomac River

The iconic river that runs along the famous Washington DC monuments. This river runs through Great Falls along dramatic cliffs that tourists get to hike along. This stretch of river is particularly wild, and only extremely advanced kayakers attempt to navigate this stretch of river. Luckily, this tour gives you a bird's eye view of the kayaking heroics as river level.

Great Falls

The third largest waterfalls in the United States. A must see if you're in the Washington DC area. You'll have 3 different viewing platforms for these amazing waterfalls. You'll also have views over the Mather Gorge downstream of the falls, as well as a view of hikers attempting the perilous Billy Goat Trail cliffs and Potomac River cliff rappelling, including Romeo's Ladder and Juliet's Balcony.

Cancellation Policy

All sales are final. No refund is available for cancellations.

Traveler Photos

Reviews (3)

MR_TR23510

May 2022

I had a great experience with the self guided tour. I had no data/cell signal and this guided tour was spot on where I was located. The Geo sync spoke up when I reached each of the highlight points. As for the park, the views were amazing. I never knew all the details of the Potomac river. The first animal siting was a deer right at the entrance. The 2nd was a woodpecker. The third was an eagle sunbathing, staring right at me 20 feet away. I was in awe of the beauty and majesty. Side note, the park like many others has litter throughout here and there, not real bad. so, bring a bag with you and pick up as you go. the next ones behind you will appreciate the beauty even more. Better yet, do not leave anything behind, leave no trace folks. I loved the park. I followed the River Trail and Gladisville Trail per the guided tour. Great job.

G9436OBkarenj

Nov 2021

Audio tour was nice! Excellent for first-time visit and made the hike very interesting with the extra info and history. I would have seen the various things he pointed out but would not have known what they once were without the audio tour. Doug's voice and speaking style is perfect for the location. My only concern was the 6-hour delay in receiving the download code from TripAdvisor. Luckily, Doug responded quickly when I reached out to him to provide the code while I was driving to Great Falls. Best to download the audio tour ahead of getting there as cell data coverage is very bad in the park area. Although the hiking route is not arduous, it is over rough, rocky land so be prepared to scramble a bit. I will use this audio tour company again!

Dylan_S

Aug 2021

Highly recommend - Lots of fun. We saw kayakers go down the biggest waterfall ! Just enough adventure and "off-road" feel to be exciting but not unsafe. The audio tour breaks up the trail with interesting background on the sites. Great Falls is always a fun visit, and this tour added a new dimension by showing us the less touristy trails. Download the app before you arrive (app: Voicemap). Cell phone service was not great (no pun intended) once in the park, and we wasted 5 minutes trying to get the app to download until we had service again. They give you a tour code to enter, and that gives you access to the tour. We took our 1 year old - carried him in a backpack style carrier. Not stroller friendly. Also saw lots of dogs, so definitely dog friendly.

Self-guided Waterfall Hiking Tour through Great Falls National Park

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