C&O Towpath/Canal Locks
Every year someone tears it down, and every year the kids put it back up. The rope swing on the Potomac River has been there for as long as I can remember, and every time I go back I have flashbacks to my Maryland youth mixed with Hollywood coming-of-age movies featuring awesome kids jumping into bodies of water during the summertime…like Stand By Me (minus the leeches) or My Girl (minus the running from murderous bees). To get there, take 495 to Clara Barton Parkway and head east. Just after Glen Echo Park, you’ll drive underneath a walkway overpass and there’ll be a small lot on your right where you can park your car. There’s a path going towards the C&O Canal: walk on the footbridge over the canal, make a right on the path, walk up the towpath northwestward about 300 yards, and you should see a trail on your left leading to the rope swing. It comes off a tree growing sideways over the river, and Sycamore Island is just south of it. It’s great on these hot summer days, for the young at heart.
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