Little Orleans/Harpers Ferry - C&O Canal (4/12 - 4/23/24)

Not a HoF rail trail, but the C&O Canal is an epic bike trail that deserves the honor. I guess technically it could never be called a "rail trail" because it was built before the railroads were the mainstream cargo transportation method. Actually, George Washington was one of the main proponents of the canal. It does, however, follow essentially the same specifications of a rail trail (flat/straight). This trail has tremendous history and is very scenic paralleling the Potomac River and the canal itself for 184.5 miles from Cumberland, MD to Georgetown, DC. This trail had no closures and weather cooperated (mostly), so we were able to ride that whole trail end to end.

As with most canals, elevation changes require locks to be present to lift or lower the boats along the journey. The C&O Canal has 74 locks that also required a manned presence to open and close the lock doors for each boat passing through. As a 24x7 operation, this required the Lockkeepers to live in the houses closeby. Some of the lockhouses are available today to be used to stay the night if you ride the trail.

On our first day, we rode from Cumberland to Little Orleans (48 mi) by using the Wheelzup Adventures (highly recommend) shuttle service to take us to Cumberland to start. The first 11 miles were pretty rough since it had just rained the previous two days and the trail was puddled with water and mud. After the 11 miles, we were greeted with a trail that had been reconditioned and that was a game changer for us. Instead of dodging water/mud at a snail's pace, we could move much faster with a trail that had much better drainage. One of the most prominent features on our ride and on the entire trail is the Paw Paw Tunnel. The canal with its water and mule path is over 3,100' long through the tunnel. It is not lighted and very dark, so a flashlight is needed at a minimum. It is a popular attraction for non-bikers as well, so be careful when riding through since some don't have lights and will appear out of nowhere. Also be careful, the trail surface is uneven and only about 4-5' wide.

As you exit the tunnel on the east side, you can see several waterfalls in the little canyon.

They also built a wooden deck pathway which I believe makes a huge safety improvement over the rock ledge that existed prior.

Like I mentioned before, the trail looks to be in the process of reconditioning the trail in segments. Some of the trail is singletrack or looks like this dual track. Actually, this part of the trail isn't bad, but some of the older sections can retain water and have potholes.

This is what the reconditioned trail looks like. We saw it under construction in places and it is essentially a layer of regular gravel with a top layer of this fine grained stone. It is then steamrolled to make it smooth and firm. This isn't as great as freshly layed asphalt or concrete, but it is close and a huge improvement on what existed here before. Overall, I would say about 70% of this trail is in this condition with 20% in good, but not reconditioned yet. The last 10% could really use help, especially the parts leaving Cumberland and DC.

As you travel the Canal, you ride along the mule trail and pass the locks and lockkeeper houses that also may provide a resting place.

The condition of the wooden lock doors varied greatly along the ride. This looks about as good as it gets.

Our first of two campgrounds we stayed at was in Little Orleans, MD at the Ridge Rider Campground and RV Park. This park is fully-wooded residing in the mountains not too far from from the trail. The road getting to this campground is winding and tight at times and was a little scary in my RV, but we just went slow and made it there OK. The campsite was a fairly roomy pull-thru with full hookups.

Not very far from the campground was an overlook of the river that reminded me a little of Horseshoe Bend NP. Here is a photo I took of Horseshoe Bend when we visited out west to see National Parks.

One of the great features of this trail is the numerous number of biker/hiker campgrounds along the trail/river. These free and primitive sites give you a picnic table, fire pit, porta-potty, and a hand pump for water. They recommend you treat the water if you want to drink it. I did this experience once as a kid and found it was more difficult to lug all your gear than using our RV as a home base.

One day 2, we rode from Little Orleans to Hancock in an out and back for 34 miles. As we have experienced many times, some history can only be seen from the trail. The Round Top Cement Mill that used the canal for transportation is another relic that is still standing.

At the halfway point of our ride, we had a refreshment at Buddylou's Eats Drinks & Antiques in Hancock. This place was hopping and very convenient right off the trail.

Since we rode to Hancock on the canal, we decided to ride part of the Western Maryland Rail Trail on our way back to Little Orleans. This is a very nice, true rail trail that runs from Big Pool to just past Little Orleans. We have been on this trail before, but it looks like they have expanded it and it now runs about 28 miles. It rides higher up on the mountain than the canal and gives some great scenic views of the river and canal.

One of the bonuses we found with riding in mid-April, was the abundance of flowers blooming along the trail. One of the common flowers was the Virginia Bluebell (pictured above). In some areas, both sides of the trail are covered with flora.

On day 3, we rode from Hancock to Sharpsburg (48 mi-one way) with a little help from a friend (Diane Evich) providing shuttle service for us this day. Some parts of the trail have a history of flooding and washouts. Here it looks like an attempt to make a permanent portion that is flood damage resistant, even though it will be under water every once in a while. This was a potentially scary area for myself where I rode through about a half-inch of fresh mud on smooth concrete that caused my front tire to spin-out and taking me down. Luckily no injuries, but I was covered in mud on my left side.

Another one of the more interesting features was also the many aqueducts that cross Potomac river tributaries. These canal bridges (10/11) over water are all still present, although very few still hold water.

More than once we ran into an obstacle along the way. Luckily we were able to get around all of them without too much effort.

On day 4, we rode from Sharpsburg to Point of Rocks (29 mi). With help from my sister-in-law (Cindy Wood), we only had to ride one way. Here in Harper's Ferry we took a break and saw some active trains coming through the tunnel. On top of those rocks is a great view (my pic) of Harper's Ferry via the Maryland Heights Trail. The Appalachian Trail also crosses the canal here.

Another view across the river from Harper's Ferry showing the trail and locks and a train moving through passing the Harper's Ferry train station.

Before arriving in Point of Rocks, we crossed the Catoctin Creek Aqueduct. This one was rebuilt after it started to sag in the 70s.

On the last day (day 5, 53 mi), we took the MARC train to DC from Pt of Rocks. They allow bicycles on the train for no additional cost. You do need to be able to carry your bike up the steps and have to bungee cord it to the bike rack.

We started the ride from Union Station near the Capitol Building and the Mall in DC.

While riding down the Mall towards the trail, we ran into Philip Evich, son of my friends Tom and Diane Evich who was working hard as a horticulturist for the Smithsonian.

Towards the end of the Mall we ran right by the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial before catching a trail along the river that takes you right to the start of the canal.

Once in Georgetown, we hopped onto the Canal and saw the first lock. This stretch was a little confusing and where we missed a couple of turns to stay on the trail and had to backtrack.

The last significant major structure we crossed was the Monocacy Aqueduct which was considered an architectural marvel at the time and is the largest one on the trail. Sorry for the long post, but there was so much to show on this ride. Next post we explore another HoF Rail Trail on our bucket list in PA/MD.

Since we grew up and lived in this area, we made some time to visit friends and family as well. Here we celebrated Ken Colaianne's birthday at the Harpers Ferry Brewing in Harpers Ferry.