Gravelly Point

Someone just asked me for directions to Gravelly Point from Fredericksburg. Since it's a great location for recreation (and scanning), I thought I'd repost the directions here:

Take I-95N to I-395N, and get off at exit 10B (the George Washington Parkway south). Merge onto the Parkway, and then take the exit for Reagan National Airport. (As you're going south on the Parkway, you actually pass Gravelly Point on the left before you get to the airport, but Gravelly Point is only accessible from the Parkway going northbound.) Once in the airport, follow the signs for the Parkway north. This will take you out of the airport, and you'll go about a mile before you get to Gravelly Point on the right. There is a decent-size parking area there, but it fills up on nice days, particularly on the weekend.

One other thing: be careful when getting on the Parkway from 395, and then again when getting on from the airport. There is really no merge area when coming down the ramps.

Gravelly Point is a great place for scanning, as it's just about in the center of everything. (How many other central places can you find that boast [unlimited] free parking?) There's an excellent view of many forms of transportation. One might see planes, helicopters, boats, and the Metro in the space of a few minutes.

Because of the numerous transmitters at the airport (which create intermod), one might have to use the attenuator on certain frequency bands. I've found this to be particularly true between about 461.0000 and 461.5000. I think the culprit is 461.1375, which is a frequency used by USAirways for ground operations. When that frequency is quiet, the intermod problem seems to be much better. Of course, other scanners might not have this problem, but they may have other intermod problems. I'm usually using a BCD396T when 461.1375 causes a problem.