I went hiking at Great Falls (the Maryland side, not the Virginia side, in case anyone really cares) with a friend today. One interesting note (interesting to me, at least):

The park is a "trash-free" facility, which means that whatever you bring in, you take out; there are no trash cans, not even in the bathroom (there's also no paper towel in the bathroom; I presume there's toilet paper, but I didn't have the occasion to check). Yet there's a refreshment stand, that sells things that absolutely would need trash cans to dispose of them (soda cups, and bottles, ice cream wrappers, napkins, little plates for hamburgers, etc, plastic silverware...). So they give you things, but they don't give you a trash can to throw them out in. For whatever reason, it doesn't bother me if they want to be trash-free and not let you throw out the water bottles you come in with, that's fine -- but if they're going to sell things that need to be thrown out, it seems awfully inconsiderate not to let you throw them out, and make you take them with you. They've given them to you. And they've charged for entry, not that that's really relevant. I wonder if this really decreases trash, or if people toss things on the ground or try to flush them down the toilet instead. I think the policy's pretty silly.