Mile 2 - Approaching Fletchers (Crescent Trail)

Car Access: Access is via Canal Road, 2 miles north of Georgetown (Wash., DC). The entrance is an extension of Reservior Road.

Caution!  The entrance ramp is at a very sharp angle (almost a reverse 180°) if you're driving East on Canal Road from Chain Bridge. If you're driving east toward Washington, DC on Canal Rd., turn left up River Road, make a U-turn at "V" St., and re-enter via Reservior Road.

Caution: The entrance to Fletchers involves a sharp turn with limited vision. Traffic on Canal Road is heavy, and everyone is speeding!

Foot Access: Fletcher's is also a pleasant 2-mile jog, walk, roller-blade, bike, or boat ride from Georgetown via the towpath, Crescent Trail Bike Path, or Potomac River. See Above!

Parking: Fletcher's has approximately 100 parking spaces, including handicap parking. For handicap parking, turn left at the bottom of the access ramp, and park on the "berm" side of the Canal next to the 1801 Abner Cloud House. If you park on the river side of the Canal towpath, access will be more difficult for the handicapped.

Walkway:Access the Canal via a new footbridge, courtesy of the devastating Flood of '96.

Mile Marker:  Fletcher's is located at Mile 3.1

Amenities

• Phone
• Concession Stand.
• Boathouse attendant.
• Separate M/W restroom facilities.
• Large Picnic area and picnic tables (approximately 10) next to the Potomac.

For Rent

• Canoes
• Rowboats
• Bicycles
• Fishing Gear

Fletcher's is a major center for DC Recreation. It is a lovely, lively, exuberant, wonderful, not-to-be-missed stop on you Canal journey.

• Walking: Families stroll the Fletcher's canal and grounds. BE CAREFUL OF THE BIKERS, a warning for all in the Canal's boisterous and active "urban" miles through Riley's Lock at Mile 16.
  
• Jogging: The 3-mile stretch between Fletcher's and Georgetown is one of Washington's premier exercise trails. It attracts all of Georgetown University's athlectic undergraduates and graduates, Olympic hopefuls from the Reebok Enclave, lawyers and lobbyists on their lunch break from Georgetown mega-firms -- well, pretty much the entire city of Washington at one time or another. The path is straight, if somewhat boring in Mile 2, and hard-packed -- very hard-packed and tough on the feet. However, this strecth is nice because the bikers, at least the fast ones, generally keep to the adjacent, paved Crescent Trail, about which we will say more later.
  
• Biking. Bike Rentals Available Here. This is Amateur BikeLand. Rent your wheels at Fletcher's or bring your "hybrid" on the bike rack.
  
• Boating: Yes, all kinds. Fletcher's rents canoes and rowboats, both on the Canal and Potomac. The Canal is much more user-friendly, and is especially recommended for canoeing or boating beginners. IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE J-STROKE FOR STERN-SIDE CANOEING, STAY OFF THE POTOMAC.
  
• BE CAREFUL about boating on the Potomac! You should be at least an intermediate in rowboating and canoeing knowledge to go out in the Potomac's dangerous currents. ALWAYS WEAR YOUR LIFE VEST, AND YOU SHOULD KNOW HOW TO SWIM. At least one fisherman drowned while fishing from a rowboat in the Potomace off Fletchers in the mid-1990s.