Department of Conservation and Recreation
Conserve. Protect. Enjoy.
Department of Conservation and Recreation
By Andrew Sporrer
The story of the Catoctin Creek isn’t so much about the creek itself, as storied and splendid as it may be. The story, in fact, is more about the people who’ve fought to protect it.
Once a month, the Catoctin Scenic River Advisory Committee gets together and reviews new zoning permit applications, draws up plans to meet with bordering landowners and brainstorms ways to increase awareness about the wonderful viewshed that is the 16-mile long Catoctin Creek Scenic River.
While meetings these days consist of about only six members, “we’re consistently trying to bring in new people,” said Committee Chair Bruce Johnson. “More people means more ideas.”
“Collectively, we focus on what we can do to protect the integrity of Catoctin Creek and what it means to have a scenic river.”
The scenic designation runs 16 miles through rolling, pastoral Waterford in Loudoun County and joins the Potomac across from Point of Rocks, Maryland. Johnson said the committee encourage small farms and estates to place their properties into easements to protect the landscape from unmitigated change.
“Development can effect a landscape. Having a scenic river is worth a lot to a community — tourism for example,” says Johnson. “People come to see things, and then they spend money in restaurants and breweries and even at motels — it’s a big part of the economic patchwork of the commonwealth.”
As is the trend in Northern Virginia, development and expansion is rapid — and the Catoctin Scenic River Advisory Committee is there to protect the creek as a resource and tributary of the Chesapeake Bay.
Often working with the Piedmont Environmental Council, the committee reviews new zoning changes and considers how they may affect the viewshed and its scenic beauty. Johnson prefers the proactive approach to preserving the viewshed by highlighting the option for landowners to transition their property into a conservation easement rather than offer it to the open market.
“Bringing the awareness to the community river that right over the hill there, they have a scenic river is crucial,” Johnson said. His point being that, “beautiful and untouched is not the goal — we want people to paddle and picnic and enjoy the fruits the scenic river provides.”
Experiencing the joy the scenic river provides gives people a stake in its future, he said.
Those interested can enjoy the Catoctin by paddling from Taylorstown to the Potomac. The two- to three-hour float is a beautifully intimate section of creek with shallow water and steep banks. Paddlers actually join the Potomac on this route and will find the DGIF-operated takeout immediately on river right beneath the Point of Rocks Bridge.
