Where Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia meet, the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers come together and cut through a ridge of rock, creating a natural travel corridor through the rugged landscape. American Indians used this corridor as did European explorers and settlers. Robert Harper set up a ferry across the river here in 1761.1 George Washington chose Harpers Ferry as the site for a U.S. Armory.2 Mills, railroads, and factories soon followed.3, 4 Harpers Ferry played a dramatic role in the Civil War as Union and Confederate forces battled for control. 5

Buildings, ruins, and artifacts remain from this human history, and many visitors to the park come for this reason.

But the park’s natural heritage draws many visitors as well. The 3,645 acre landscape includes these captivating natural features:

• two large rivers—the Shenandoah and the Potomac—that merge to form a larger Potomac River;
• rocky cliffs that provide spectacular views of the rivers and of the town of Harpers Ferry;
• steep forested slopes and ridges;
• moist, fern-laden ravines;
• open fields and farms;
• patches of flat, fertile floodplains along the rivers, and vegetated sandy or rocky bars in the rivers.

Trails Passing Through Harpers Ferry NHP

Hikers on the Appalachian Trail know Harpers Ferry as the psychological halfway point of the 2,190-mile trail, and the home of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy headquarters.

The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal towpath also passes through the park, tracking along the Maryland side of the Potomac River. The 184.5-mile path was originally used by mules pulling boats up and down the C&O canal. Today it is a popular destination for hikers and cyclists. The path is maintained as part of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park.

Reading the Landscape

No story about any one feature at Harpers Ferry NHP—whether plant or animal, bedrock, shape of the land, or stream—is complete without understanding something about how each impacts all the others.

Let this website help weave together some of these stories and develop your ability to “read the landscape” at the park the way a skilled naturalist can read animal tracks. Explore the website and learn how plants and animals interact with each other and the physical setting to form recognizable natural communities.

Learn how humans influence those natural communities in the Stewardship and Ecological Threats section.

Then, use the interactive map of Harpers Ferry NHP to plan a visit. Armed with your newfound knowledge and skills, hit the trails and explore the natural communities of Harpers Ferry NHP.

• 1. Corporation of Harpers Ferry.  2018.  History of Harpers Ferry.
• 2. National Park Service.  2015.  George Washington.
• 3. National Park Service.  2015.  Harpers Ferry Stories.
• 4. Corporation of Harpers Ferry.  2018.  History of Harpers Ferry.
• 5. National Park Service.  2015.  Harpers Ferry Stories.