Wildflowers and Frank Lloyd Wright (Rating: C)

You must read the following NVHC Sign-in Sheet Statement/Liability Disclaimer, https://nvhc.com/signin.pdf and then answer the question that you will see when you RSVP with "I accept" to be permitted on the hike.

NOTE CHANGES ON 3/25/25 FOR REVERSED HIKE DIRECTION!!

Approximately 10-mile, one-way nature and fitness hike (with shuttle) on the flat C&O Canal towpath and multiple slightly hilly, rocky, and potentially muddy/slippery side trails. Two stream crossings.

We'll meet at Fletcher's Cove Boathouse and ( 38.919586, -77.101319 ) then carpool north to Carderock Recreation Area ( 38.976107, -77.205523 ) to start our special spring hike. (We'll all squeeze into just a few cars of volunteer drivers to drive there.) We'll mainly hike along the gravel C&O Canal towpath at a 2.5 to 3 mph pace but we'll also explore side trails and early spring wildflowers. We'll DAWDLE A LOT to photograph or just look closely at the wonderful wildflowers. Downstream, we'll be honored with a view of Frank Lloyd Wright's Marden House perched atop the Potomac River. (We may bushwhack a tad for a better view than you get from the towpath.)

IMPORTANT NOTE: At the start, we'll be taking the somewhat hill, rocky, and maybe muddy Billy Goat C Trail (before we head back to the flat Towpath) but since the pedestrian bridge is out, we have to do what should be an easy stream crossing to start the hike. A harder stream crossing is about half way down that trail. I will personally try to cross upstream where it's typically easier to cross. The main trail stream crossing is easily doable -- but it scares me sometimes!

*MUST-READ*: For this hike to work, we need several volunteers at the start to drive so we can accomplish this linear hike and a couple of volunteers to drive the drivers back to their cars at the end. Adults only. No pets, including pet miner bees. We'll likely see spring beauties, Virginia bluebells, Dutchman's breeches, golden ragwort, and other native and non-native wildflowers, depending on the weather leading up to our hike.

MEET: 9 a.m. by the restrooms at Fletcher's Cove Boathouse.
(GPS: 38.919586, -77.101319). *If there is room, park in the UPPER lot so that you don’t have to drive through the tunnel. But overflow parking is available on the other side of the tunnel.)

(Volunteer drivers will then carpool us straight up Canal Road to Carderock at these GPS coordinates: 38.976107, -77.205523.

Beware: If you have a huge car with a poor turning radius, you might not be able to make the U turn leaving Fletchers.)

BRING: Sense of humor, sense of awe, water, lunch, full-charged cell phone with optional iNaturalist app, optional camera, and dress for the weather.

RESTROOMS: At start and end. Portapotty midway. (Biobreaks in woods in between).

WRIGHT HOUSE: 2,800 sq. ft. historic LUIS MARDEN HOUSE ON AOL CO-FOUNDER JAMES KIMSEY'S FORMER ESTATE (49,000 sq. ft. house with infinity pool and parking for 30 cars, which sold for $45 million in 2020). Wright designed the house for National Geographic writer and photographer Luis Marden (born Annibale Luigi Paragallo) and his mathematician wife, Ethel, in 1959. Ethel "wrote programs for the nation’s first internally programmed digital computer” when she worked for the predecessor of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. You can't visit the Marden house but Wright's Pope-Leighey House in Fairfax is open to the public! [https://www.architectmagazine.com/design/buildings/d-c-residence-with-a-frank-lloyd-wrightdesigned-guesthouse-is-for-sale_o ](https://www.architectmagazine.com/design/buildings/d-c-residence-with-a-frank-lloyd-wrightdesigned-guesthouse-is-for-sale_o)

http://www.woodlawnpopeleighey.org

“Must-read” WaPo story on AOL's Kimsey. He wanted to KNOCK DOWN the iconic Marden house:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/magazine/2005/08/21/the-wright-way/0ca04cc1-5f2f-4ad0-8707-df3272f5708f/

C&O CANAL MAP: CARDEROCK RECREATION AREA AND FLETCHERS COVE:
https://www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit/upload/Great-Falls-Hiking-Map.pdf

WILDFLOWER “BIBLE” FOR DC:
“Finding Wildflowers in the Washington-Baltimore Area”
https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/1585/finding-wildflowers-washington-baltimore-area

https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Wildflowers-Washington-Baltimore-Hopkins-Paperback/dp/0801849950

FREE CITIZEN-SCIENCE iNATURALIST APP AND WEBSITE: https://www.inaturalist.org

SPRING NATIVE PLANT SALES and NURSERIES:

https://vnps.org/native-plant-sales/

https://www.plantnovanatives.org/local-native-plant-sales

https://mdflora.org/plantsales.html

https://www.fona.org/events_programs/

*IMPORTANT* THESE DIRECTIONS FROM CARDEROCK TO FLETCHERS ARE ONLY FOR THE PEOPLE TAKING THE DRIVERS BACK TO THEIR CARS, *NOT* EVERYONE. I also posted screen shots of the map. Take whichever route you personally want but the only reason I'm giving these directions is because you canNOT turn right into Fletchers heading southbound toward Georgetown on Clara Barton/Canal Road.

1. Exit Carderock and follow ramp to your right onto Clara Barton Parkway.

2. Stay to the right to go underneath the Beltway and following signs toward DC. Turn get in the left lane and turn LEFT to follow the Glen Echo ramp to MacArthur Boulevard.

3. Turn RIGHT onto MacArthur Boulevard and follow it to Reservoir Rd. NW.

4. Follow Reservoir Rd. NW downhill to Canal Road.

5. Turn right briefly onto Canal Road.

6. Turn left almost immediately into Fletchers Cove Boathouse. (It's more like a diagonal than a left turn.)