- Join for free
- Sign In
mtncorg Says: The best way to explore the Paw Paw Tunnel is to walk through it. To make your trip even more interesting, the Park Service has established a trail over the top of the tunnel, so you can make a loop out of it. The whole loop is a couple miles long and entails a gain of some...
chewy3326 Says: The Towpath is the wide, gravel path that parallels the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal from beginning to end. The towpath was originally used by donkeys and other animals to pull boats on the canal. Today it's a popular place where many residents of Washington DC enjoy strolling...
Great Falls Tavern and Visitor Center
chewy3326 Says: The Great Falls Tavern and Visitor Center is the main visitor center at the Great Falls section of the C&O Canal. The tavern used to be a stopping point for many coming up or down the canal; today it has exhibits on the history of the canal, and National Park rangers are...
chewy3326 Says: There are many, many locks along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, built to help boats pass rapids and waterfalls. One of the greatest concentration of locks is at the Great Falls section, where you'll find Locks 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20. As you can see, from spring through...
mtncorg Says: ccessed at mile 39.8 (mileage is upriver from Georgetown) on the C&O towpath through the Dickerson Conservation Area - administered by Montgomery County, Maryland - this is an old ford across the Potomac River used by Civil War armies to cross the Potomac. One well-known...
mtncorg Says: Located at Mile 162.3 of the C&O Canal, the town Creek aqueduct allowed C&O boats to gracefully cross over the top of Town Creek. The aqueduct is a single arch stone structure which crosses the creek just upstream from its confluence with the Potomac River. There are several...
mtncorg Says: This was the last and most difficult section of the C&O Canal to complete taking over fourteen year - 1836-1850. The tunnel is about ¾ mile long - 3118 feet - and is lined with some 6000000+ bricks. Built as a narrow one-way channel with a towpath on the south side for the...
mtncorg Says: At Mile 184.5, after 74 locks, 7 dams, 11 aqueducts and the ¾ mile long Paw Paw Tunnel, you reach the end of the C&O Canal in Cumberland. The Visitor Center is located nearby in the old Cumberland train station - from which visitors can also ride on a restored steam engine...
Mile 14 Great Falls Park (Virginia)
Toughluck Says: There are 2 Great Falls Parks. In the C&O Canal National Parkway is the Great Falls Tavern on the Maryland side. On the Virginia side is Great Falls Park, a unit of the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Both are National Park Service units.On the Virginia side, the The...
Mile 72 (Ferry Point), Shepardstown, West Virginia
Toughluck Says: Ferry Hill gets it's name from the ferry landing at the bottom of the hill, which provided service between the north and south banks of the Potomac River. Streams flow into the Potomac from each side at this location and provide natural ramps from the river level to the...
Toughluck Says: Located on a great horseshoe of the Potomac River, the canal builders found that they could reduce the canal from 5 miles going around the bend to less than 2 miles by building directly across the narrows. Here locks #47, #48, #49, and #50 lifted the canalboats in quick...
Mile 68 (Antietam Creek Aqueduct)
Toughluck Says:
American Deli Coffee: Great place to eat close to the canal.
mfcling Says: The food at this location is excellent! The ambience of the historic town make this a great place to visit! I have tried many sandwiches and find them all to be great. However, my husband states that he has tasted no better Shrimp Salad sandwich. The Shrimp salad sandwich...
C&O bike shop.: if you need spare parts for your bike.
cachaseiro Says: the C&O bikeshop in hancock is one of the best stocked bike shops along the canal and the guy who runs it is a very friendly and helpful guy.i strongly suggest you stop by there if cycling the canal. anything you need for your bike.
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
Toughluck Says: Harpers Ferry
Antietam National Battlefield (Mile 70-80)
Toughluck Says: Located in Sharpsburg, near Mile 75, is Antietam National Battlefield, the bloodiest single day of the American Civil War. Please visit my Antietam NB page for things to do.
cachaseiro Says: cycling the chesapeake and ohio canal is the perfect way to see the place.the biketrail is fine even if it's not paved and you have good facilities along the way for bikers. a bike with good tyres is preferable.a racing bike is not the best as the trail is mostly not paved,...
chewy3326 Says: When the leaves fall from the trees the forest is bare, and the trees reach up with their branches in an almost spiritual manner. This is the advent of winter; although winter solstice is not until late December, winter begins here in mid-November after the last leaves have...
chewy3326 Says: By far the best season to visit the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park is in Autumn. Starting in early-mid October, the leaves in the area slowly begin changing color. Slowly the color of the foliage fades from green to yellows, reds, oranges, and browns....
Plan a Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park vacation with reviews, tips and photos posted by real travelers and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park locals
Harpers Ferry
Q: Hello, My wife, myself, and our lovely 2-months old daughter would like to get away for a while form home (Pittsburgh, PA). The...
A: You might consider the area of St Michaels and Easton, Oxford. Take Route 50 across the Tred Avon and you are there on the Eastern Shore of...
Read 4 Replies
1
In september 2006 i cycled from Washington DC to Pittsburgh. First part of the trip was through Maryland along the Chesapeake and ohio canal. It's an old canal that was used for transporting cargo...
2
CHESEPEAKE AND OHIO NHP - INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS
'Internal Improvements' was a political catchword of the era of John Quincy Adams. 'Improvements' were normally seen as methods that facilitated transportation of goods and people throughout the new...
3
Return Often, find something new with each visit
I've got some interesting experiences in Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. I'd love to share with you the 15 tips I've written, the 41 photos uploaded, and 2 travelogues I've created.
5
The C&O Canal, Great Falls and more!
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal stretches from Georgetown, DC to Cumberland, MD. Today a national historic park, it was originally dug to transport goods far upstream. Today the area is a popular...
Build your own Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park page
