Situated on 800 acres (3.2 km2) along the banks of the Potomac River in northern Fairfax County, the park is a disconnected but integral part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway.

With the completion of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal on the opposite side of the river, and the oncoming age of railroads, the project was abandoned in 1830.

Located at the end of an electric trolley line that began in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., the park contained picnic grounds, a dance pavilion, and a carousel.

The park continues to provide picnic grounds and a visitor center but the carousel that operated between 1954 and 1972 was destroyed by a flood caused by Hurricane Agnes.

Fifteen miles (24 km) of hiking trails traverse the park and follow a small stream known as Difficult Run.

A scenic trail near the river travels upstream from a landing at the mouth of Difficult Run, climbs to the top of Mather Gorge and passes the falls, a dam, and a reservoir before ending in Fairfax County's Riverbend Park.

On busy weekends, all the parking may fill up by early in the morning, creating delays and temporary closures lasting up to several hours.

The first kayaker to run them was Tom McEwan in 1975,[4] but only since the early 1990s have the Falls been a popular destination for expert whitewater boaters in the DC area.