Credits

Created by Virginia Pellington, Christina Prehn, and Robert Copus, Explore Natural Communities Interns Summer 2016, NatureServe.

Music: Mountain Breeze by purple planet music (purple-planet.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0.

Sounds:  Great Blue Heron, recorded by Paul Marvin. Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0.

Photo: Riverside Outcrop Woodland, by 2016 Summer Interns. Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0.

Transcript

Podcast time: 3:26 minutes

Anyone who's been to Great Falls Park can appreciate that it's a beautiful place with breathtaking views. But, they might not know what this area was like before it became part of the National Park System in the 1960s. In fact, this area boasts a rich and interesting history. For thousands of years, the area that is now Great Falls Park served as an important meeting place along the Potomac River for Native American tribes, especially members of the Powhatan Confederacy and the Iroquois Nation.

Fast forward to the 1850s. At this site on the Maryland side, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed the Aqueduct Dam to intake and supply water to Washington, D.C. residents, which is still used to this day. Maybe even more unexpected, in 1906, an amusement park opened in Great Falls! People would travel to the park by trolley line and ride the famous carousel.

Today, Great Falls Park is still serving its community. Visitors immerse themselves in nature at this prime day-hiking and picnicking location. Walking down the River Trail on a nice day, you'll quickly find yourself high on the rocky rim of the Potomac Gorge, which is a steep, long valley with the river flowing away far below. You will likely see other visitors on the huge rock outcrops, enjoying the great views of the Potomac River, or perhaps gearing up to descend the cliff face with their fellow rock climbers. Little do they know, they are completely surrounded by one of the park’s unique and globally rare natural communities—the Riverside Outcrop Woodland.

This natural community is a product of the massive floods which have changed the landscape surrounding the falls for millennia. The powerful waters have carved their way through the edge of the Gorge, exposing irregular blocks of bare bedrock terrace. In this natural community we call “Riverside Outcrop Woodland,” you will find clusters of stunted Virginia pine  and eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) jutting from the rocks. These trees max out around 25 feet tall in this woodland, even though the pines are capable of growing up to four times this height in other conditions! It’s tough work for trees growing here. Between rocks, where these trees manage to take root, there is often less than 1 inch of sandy soil. Imagine how difficult it is for these trees to grow with so little water, wedged between rocks baking in the summer sun. As if that’s not enough, every few decades, raging floodwaters from the Potomac River reach the top of this high terrace and rip away trees and any soil that might have built up.

While appreciating the risky life of these trees, take a look down into the Gorge. The Riverside Outcrop Woodland is a prime spot to catch a glimpse of a great blue heron (Ardea herodias) feeding by the river or for visitors to break a sweat hiking and rock climbing. This natural community is limited to the tops of steep gorges, only occurring here on the Potomac River and on the New River in West Virginia. Talk about a rare sight to see. Whatever your interests, take the afternoon to step away from the city, and enjoy some time on top of the Potomac River Gorge in this unique natural community, the Riverside Outcrop Woodland.

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