Potomac River

[BigT51]

Heading down to Virginia for my daughter's softball tournament near Dulles and I'd like to take the boat along. Looks like Pohick Bay Regional Park (near Fort Belvoir) has a pretty good ramp and was wondering if any of the Virginia Jetboaters have used this facility? Any recommendations for boating this section of the Potomac River? Never been on this body of water. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[motomandan]

Lot of debris after it rains. Usually there is a bunch of Hydrilla grass. But not too bad this year. Make sure you check out Mallows Bay. I work across the river at Indian Head Naval Station Weapons Center

 

[PortTobacco II]

Saw the post for the Potomac River and was all excited to give some input. But looking at where you are talking about putting in....I don't know too much about the river way up there. Most folks head south on the river. I am a good two hours south from Pohick Bay.

What are hoping you to do while you are the Potomac? water sports, sight see, anchor on sandy shore, go to water side restaurant/bar? How much time are you thinking of spending on the water?

Oh thought I would mention that the Dulles area/DC/ Northern Virginia can be a real sucky place to drag a boat around. Driving on that part of 495 and then 95 to get to Pohick Bay could really be a real hassle. But you probably know all about DC area traffic.

 

[BigT51]

Saw the post for the Potomac River and was all excited to give some input. But looking at where you are talking about putting in....I don't know too much about the river way up there. Most folks head south on the river. I am a good two hours south from Pohick Bay.

What are hoping you to do while you are the Potomac? water sports, sight see, anchor on sandy shore, go to water side restaurant/bar? How much time are you thinking of spending on the water?

Oh thought I would mention that the Dulles area/DC/ Northern Virginia can be a real sucky place to drag a boat around. Driving on that part of 495 and then 95 to get to Pohick Bay could really be a real hassle. But you probably know all about DC area traffic.

Thanks for the feedback. We'll probably spend most of the day Saturday on the water and plan to do a little of everything. We're staying in hotel near Dulles so I was looking for ramps closer to that area and found Pohick - it's about 30 miles from the hotel and I can take 286 (Fairfax Couty Parkway) then 123 to get there - staying off 95. Google maps says route has restricted usage or private roads - not sure what's that about. Once on the water, we'll likely head south to bigger water. At what point do you start getting into salt water? I've flown out of Dulles several times and know about the traffic, not looking forward to that part.

 

[PortTobacco II]

Thanks for the feedback. We'll probably spend most of the day Saturday on the water and plan to do a little of everything. We're staying in hotel near Dulles so I was looking for ramps closer to that area and found Pohick - it's about 30 miles from the hotel and I can take 286 (Fairfax Couty Parkway) then 123 to get there - staying off 95. Google maps says route has restricted usage or private roads - not sure what's that about. Once on the water, we'll likely head south to bigger water. At what point do you start getting into salt water? I've flown out of Dulles several times and know about the traffic, not looking forward to that part.

Most of the Potomac is brackish (mixture of salt and fresh) water. I am not sure if there is a spot where is changes over. The further south you go the salty it gets.

There is crab shack called Tim's II at Fairview Beach that might be of interest to you.

 

[PaulyB]

Pohick bay is very very shallow at low tide and a little bit to get to the channel. Leesylvania state park may be a better launch point. I lived in Woodbridge and am very familiar with the Potomac from DC to colonial beach.

 

[PaulyB]

If you want to stay up around DC on the water Columbia Island Marina is a good launch point.

 

[BigT51]

Pohick bay is very very shallow at low tide and a little bit to get to the channel. Leesylvania state park may be a better launch point. I lived in Woodbridge and am very familiar with the Potomac from DC to colonial beach.

Thanks for the heads up. Looking at the map, Leesylvania is pretty close to Pohick so I'll use it instead. Looks like it's on the main body of water so not as shallow I assume? Nice big parking lot also. Does it get crowded on weekends?

 

[PaulyB]

Thanks for the heads up. Looking at the map, Leesylvania is pretty close to Pohick so I'll use it instead. Looks like it's on the main body of water so not as shallow I assume? Nice big parking lot also. Does it get crowded on weekends?

Yeah it can get crowded on the weekends, it has two large ramps and two large parking lots.... Do you have a chart plotter?

 

[ToxicVT]

I boat on the Potomac up that way all the time and see a lot of Jetboaters out there. We would typically launch from Leesylvania, but we frequently ride up to Pohick Bay to anchor or hang out. If you want to sightsee from your boat heading north to DC is a lot of fun. You can cruise by Mount Vernon, the Lincoln memorial and tie up at Georgetown or the Warf and get food/drinks. If you head North you should stay in the channel and/or use a GPS or other depth map to stay out of the shallow areas. I didn't realize how shallow it was until I was cruising in front of Mount Vernon and was surprised that my depth alarm was going off because it was 2-3ft. If you want to do water sports or see the wider, less populated spots then head south. Everything is freshwater until you pass the 301 bridge.

 

[BigT51]

Yeah it can get crowded on the weekends, it has two large ramps and two large parking lots.... Do you have a chart plotter?

Yes, I have a Raymarine a78.

 

[BigT51]

I boat on the Potomac up that way all the time and see a lot of Jetboaters out there. We would typically launch from Leesylvania, but we frequently ride up to Pohick Bay to anchor or hang out. If you want to sightsee from your boat heading north to DC is a lot of fun. You can cruise by Mount Vernon, the Lincoln memorial and tie up at Georgetown or the Warf and get food/drinks. If you head North you should stay in the channel and/or use a GPS or other depth map to stay out of the shallow areas. I didn't realize how shallow it was until I was cruising in front of Mount Vernon and was surprised that my depth alarm was going off because it was 2-3ft. If you want to do water sports or see the wider, less populated spots then head south. Everything is freshwater until you pass the 301 bridge.

Cruising past the monuments on the water sounds very cool.