Billy Goat Trail
Students scrambling over boulders on Section A of the trail. Mather Gorge is on the left.
Length:	4.7 mi; 7.5 km
Trailheads:	C&O Canal Bear Island
Use:	Hiking
Trail Difficulty:	Strenuous (Section A) Moderate (Sections B&C)
Season:	All year
Sights:	Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park

Students scaling a steep cliff face on Section A of the trail.

Students overlooking the Potomac River. (Opposite cliff face is Virginia).

The Billy Goat Trail (also written as Billygoat Trail) is a 4.7 mile hiking trail that follows a path between the C&O Canal and the Potomac River within the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park near Great Falls in Montgomery County, Maryland. Although the trail has three sections to it, Section A (1.7 miles), Section B (1.4 miles) and Section C (1.6 miles), Section A is by far the most popular of the three. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1000x750, 384 KB) Summary See Billy Goat Trail for details. ... Students scrambling over boulders on the Billy Goat Trail. ... Length is the long dimension of any object. ... A mile is the name of a unit of length, usually used to measure distance, in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... A kilometer (Commonwealth spelling: kilometre), symbol: km is a unit of length in the metric system equal to 1,000 metres (from the Greek words χίλια (khilia) = thousand and μέτρο (metro) = count/measure). ... Canal at Swains Lock The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, also known as the C&O Canal, operated from 1850 until 1924 parallel to the Potomac River in Maryland from Cumberland, Maryland to Washington, DC. The total length of the canal is about 184. ... Bear Island is an island located in Montgomery County, Maryland between the Potomac River and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal near the Great Falls. ... A season is one of the major divisions of the year, generally based on yearly periodic changes in weather. ... The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park is a National Park Service_managed National Historical Park in northern Maryland that was established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1961. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (750x1000, 493 KB) Summary See Billy Goat Trail for details. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (750x1000, 493 KB) Summary See Billy Goat Trail for details. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1024x768, 577 KB) Summary See Billy Goat Trail for details. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1024x768, 577 KB) Summary See Billy Goat Trail for details. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... A mile is the name of a unit of length, usually used to measure distance, in a number of different systems, including English units, Imperial units, and United States customary units. ... Two hikers in the Mount Hood National Forest Eagle_Creek hiking Hiking is a form of walking, undertaken with the specific purpose of exploring and enjoying the scenery. ... Canal at Swains Lock The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, also known as the C&O Canal, operated from 1850 until 1924 parallel to the Potomac River in Maryland from Cumberland, Maryland to Washington, DC. The total length of the canal is about 184. ... The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States (USA). ... The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park is a National Park Service_managed National Historical Park in northern Maryland that was established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1961. ... The Great Falls of the Potomac River, located 14 miles (22. ... Montgomery County is a suburban county located in the U.S. state of Maryland north of Washington, D.C. The county, sometimes referred to informally as MoCo, is the most populous jurisdiction in Maryland and one of the most affluent in the nation. ... Official language(s) None (English, de-facto) Capital Annapolis Largest city Baltimore Area  Ranked 42nd  - Total 12,417 sq mi (32,160 km²)  - Width 90 miles (145 km)  - Length 249 miles (400 km)  - % water 21  - Latitude 37°53N to 39°43N  - Longitude 75°4W to 79°33...

Section A of the Billy Goat Trail is on Bear Island and traverses rough and rocky terrain, including a steep climb along a cliff face. Elderly hikers should take caution. At another point in the trail, hikers are required to scramble over and around huge boulders. Sections B and C are less strenuous and require little if any scrambling. Most of the trail is well marked with light blue trail blazes. Bear Island is an island located in Montgomery County, Maryland between the Potomac River and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal near the Great Falls. ... Scrambling on Crib Goch, Snowdonia, Wales Scrambling is a method of ascending rocky faces and ridges. ... Typical painted blaze in Mt. ...

Section A is best accessed from the Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center area or Anglers Inn. Section B is best accessed from Anglers Inn and Section C is best accessed from Carderock. All sections of the trail are free although an entrance fee is charged when entering and parking near the Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center. No fee is charged when parking at Anglers Inn or Carderock.

The three sections of the trail do not connect directly with each other, but rather, are connected by the towpath along the C&O Canal. Thus, to traverse the whole Billy Goat Trail in order, one must start off on the towpath at the entrance to section A, traverse section A, which lets out along the towpath, then walk along the towpath to the beginning of section B, etc. The end point of section C is about 2.75 miles southeast along the towpath from the starting point of section A.

References

• Great Falls Trail Descriptions (PDF) from the National Park Service website
• Great Falls Trail Map (PDF) from the National Park Service website
• The Washington Post. City Guide: Billy Goat Trail