Highlighting - Riley's Lock

Riley’s Lock

Darnestown, MD

C&O Canal Towpath Bridge

The Potomac River is a long and winding river that separates Maryland from Virginia and parts of West Virginia. There are plenty of places to paddle kayaks and SUPs along this tributary for the Chesapeake Bay. But just outside of the DC area sits Riley’s Lock, a gem of a paddling location especially if you are looking to paddle for miles.

Riley's Lock sits between the city of Potomac and Poolsville just off River Road. This is also where Seneca Creek flows into the Potomac River.

Riley’s Lock offers a large parking lot with a few porta-potties, a handful of picnic tables, a boat trailer ramp, and a floating dock with a disability-friendly kayak launch area.

After you launch your vessel you can turn right and head up the creek for a mile or so till you reach a swimming hole called “the Chute” but the paddling gets fairly shallow after that (you can still keep paddling but it is not super fun anymore). It’s better to launch, turn left, go under the C&O Canel towpath bridge and onto the Potomac River, and head upriver (to the right). This section of the Potomac is pretty mild, you are still paddling upriver so you are going against the current but if you are looking to get a bunch of miles in this section is a great place for that.

The Potomac is a great place for wildlife watching, this section has Great Blue Herons, cormorants, turtles, and a lot of fish. This section of the Potomac has plenty of wildlife to see and lots of other visitors on the C&O Canal towpath which will run parallel to your upriver paddle.

If you come out on a weekend in the summer you will probably come across live music from Riley’s Lock Jams, a group of friends that play outside at the launch site for a few hours each weekend. It is always enjoyable to paddle back in to live music and chill on the water for a while after a long fresh paddle.

Riley’s Lock can be crowded with hikers, bikers, kayakers, and paddleboarders but there always seems to be enough space for everyone to enjoy this area of the Potomac River.