Category: Boats

Volunteer Support to Clean Williamsport Boats

Hello Level Walkers,

The National Park Service is looking for volunteers to help get the Williamsport boats ready for the season. As always your help is appreciated.
This project will happen at the Williamsport maintenance yard. It will involve cleaning the exterior of the four boats with brushes and hoses, and wiping down the interior of the boats with rags and simple green. All supplies will be provided by the park.
The park would like to get the boats cleaned in the next couple of weeks. Please let Emily Hewitt at emily_hewitt@nps.gov know if you could help on any the following dates. The work starts at 10 a.m.
  • Monday, April 29
  • Tuesday, April 30
  • Wednesday, May 1
  • Thursday, May 2
  • Friday, May 3
Or the following week:
  • Monday, May 6
  • Tuesday, May 7
  • Wednesday, May 8
  • Thursday, May 9
  • Friday, May 10
If you have any questions, please contact Emily. Thanks!

2017 Canal Boat Excursions Season Opens at Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center in Potomac, Maryland

Hello Level Walkers – the following notification is from the National Park Service. Contact Pete Peterson, Supervisory Park Ranger, pete_peterson@nps.gov 301-767-3702 for further information. – LWC

Potomac, MD – Nineteenth-century mule-drawn canal boat excursions resume for the 2017 season at the Great Falls Tavern on Saturday, April 1, 2017. Come aboard the Charles F. Mercer, a reproduction packet boat to experience what it was once like to travel up and down this historic waterway. Cruise on the canal at a mule’s pace and experience rising and falling 8 feet in a lift lock. Hear tales of what life was like for the families who lived and worked on the canal.

Public Boat Excursions: April- October, Saturday and Sunday at 11:00 am, 1:30 pm, and 3:00 pm. June-August, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 11:00am, 1:30pm and 3:00pm. To confirm the boat ride for your visit, please call 301-767-3714 for details as special circumstances may affect this schedule. Prices: $8.00 for adults (ages 16-61), $6.00 for seniors (ages 62 +), and $5.00 for children (ages 4-15). Children aged three and under ride free. In addition to the boat fee, there is an entrance fee to the park of $10.00 per single vehicle.

Ten or more people are required to make advance reservations. Otherwise, seats are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. To charter the Charles F. Mercer for evening excursions, please call 301-767-3709.  The Charles F. Mercer boat capacity is 60 people. The boat programs last approximately one hour.

The Charles F. Mercer operates at the Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. The address is 11710 MacArthur Blvd. Potomac, MD 20854. Check our website and Facebook page for additional special event and ranger-led programs: www.nps.gov/choh, www.facebook.com/chesapeakeandohiocanal . Join in the conversation this summer! #candocanal #great falls #towpath #mules #potomac

Photo – An excursion on Charles F. Mercer departs Lock 20; September 13, 2014 – Level 7