River Watch
Tough Fish, Secret Sculpture Gardens, Rivers That Flows Both Ways
It’s a Potomac for people seeking a different dose of reality
There’s another Potomac River out there. Like our own Potomac, this place is well worth knowing. It’s full of life and beauty, and it has a sly way of challenging our ideas and assumptions about nature. It’s also very different from our own Potomac. In fact, I’d argue that it’s not even a river at all. One of the tributaries to this other Potomac is Mattawoman Creek, in Charles County. You reach it by following Indian Head Highway to the very end, where you can launch your kayak or canoe at a peaceful little county park. I paddled upstream, pushed along by the current and undeterred by a series of explosions coming from the Naval Surface Warfare Station. Then, rounding a bend ahead of me, I spotted “Joe.” Joe -- I don’t know his real name…
