Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park

The westernmost and easiest Billy Goat section, 1.6 miles along the Potomac with no rock scrambles; commonly hiked as a ~2.6-mile loop with the C&O Canal towpath.

Climbs about 2 miles over Sorrell Ridge above the 3,118-ft Paw Paw Tunnel, the longest structure on the C&O Canal; pairs with the towpath through the brick-lined tunnel as a loop.

The most demanding Billy Goat section: a 1.7-mile cliffside boulder scramble above Mather Gorge just downstream of Great Falls, including a 50-ft rock face, with views of the frothy Potomac. Often a 3.7-mile loop via the towpath.

Wooded loop from the Great Falls Tavern area passing the ruins of the historic Maryland Mine and a wayside on post-Civil War gold mining; a ~3-mile forest alternative to the riverside trails at Great Falls, Maryland.

Short boardwalk footpath crossing bridges to Olmsted Island and the Great Falls Overlook, where the Potomac roars through the rocks above Mather Gorge; begins near the Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center.

The middle Billy Goat section, 1.4 miles along the Potomac; easier than Section A with only one brief scramble, usually looped back via the C&O Canal towpath.

The flat, level towpath running 184.5 miles along the Potomac from Georgetown, D.C. to Cumberland, Maryland, following the historic 19th-century canal past locks, lockhouses and aqueducts.