alan s 

Just completed my annual C&O trip. Lots of improvements along the way. But still a need for many more. Rode from DC to Cumberland, camped out Friday night, hotel in Williamsport, then camping on Sunday night and the train home. Daily mile totals were 13, 75, 70 and 20, which is a little less than the whole distance. The section from around Mile 50 near Brunswick to around Mile 70 is the best non-paved trail I’ve ever ridden on. It has yet to be completed, and the weather hasn’t had time to erode it, but it is so smooth and wide.

alan s 

The restored aqueduct at Williamsport is very nice. It’s now the only working aqueduct on the canal. The new NPS Canal HQ is going to be built there as well. Getting over the canal from town requires going over the car bridge, rather than the steps shown on the photo. Note that I visited the Antietam battlefield, so didn’t ride the C&O from Mile 70 to Mile 99.

th0

Beautiful, hope to get out there end of october but the other way around!
Was planning on doing 60/60/60 with sleeping in Harpers Ferry and Hancock

alan s 

The Western Maryland Rail Trail has been extended on the western end beyond Pearre. There are new huge ramps that are needed to get you down to the towpath and back up to avoid a closed 2-mile section with a tunnel that has yet to be restored. The westernmost access point is unmarked, and takes you through the canal between Miles 143 and 144. Anyone approaching from the west will have to look hard for it, but the cut through is just after you go under the railroad bridge. That bridge goes across the river, and is part of the old WMRR line.

alan s 

And last, but not least, the work at the Paw Paw Tunnel appears to be completed. Not the most attractive, but if it keeps someone from getting crushed by falling slabs of rock, I guess it’s necessary.

alan s 

Note that you can also access the WMRT extension at the well known Bill’s in Little Orleans if you don’t want to walk through the canal bed after MM144.

jpescatore

3 weeks or so ago some more wind storms caused many blowdowns upstream from Point of Rocks, all clear now.

John N

Are you able to ride the C&O on a trike? My wife rides one and we have ridden between Pittsburgh to Cumberland and she would like to go from Cumberland to DC but I have been told it really is not that good for trikes. Thoughts? John

alan s 

A trike would be OK in some areas and not OK in others. On the whole, I would recommend against. Too many areas where one or two wheels will be in the grass, which sometimes is fairly high.

John N

Alan, that is sort of what I thought. Bummer. Thanks for the prompt reply. John

Rob_E

When I went through in June, I found the signs at those ramps between the rail trail and canal trail to be non-intuitive. I guess, having just spent a couple of days on the GAP rail-trail, I failed to think about how I was now on a canal trail, not a rail trail. I passed a couple before I realized they led to the rail trail parallel to the canal. At that point I decided to stick to the canal because I had my off-road tires on which were kind of buzzy on pavement, and because I had made a note about a particular campground using the C&O mile markers. Joke was on me, though. The campground was actually only accessible from the rail trail, and by the time I realized that, I was ready to end the day's riding, and didn't want to backtrack to the last connection between the two trails. Live and learn, I suppose.

I agree with Alan about the challenges of a three-wheeled vehicle on the trail. I think it's doable, but the wheel-wide double track in some places will make it less comfortable. More towards the northwestern end, if I remember properly. Still, I saw two people with two-wheeled trailers, which would face the same issues. But then one of those riders was about fed up with his trailer, and the other had only done the first 15 miles or so out of DC. Still, with the better trail-surfaces on the DC end, the smoother, improved section around Harpers Ferry, the the rail trail option west of Harpers Ferry, it might be that you could make a pleasant trip out of it by skipping the 50 miles or so at the Cumberland end. But that's based on my (often faulty) memory and not on having actually ridden it with a trike in mind.

robow

Alan,
first let me thank you for posting the updates. A couple quick questions for you, next week we'll be coming down from Pittsburgh and spending an evening in Hancock. I then would like to proceed to Antietam (did this once 10 years ago), so if I take the WMRT near its end, pop back on the C&O to Williamsport. Have you a favorite route down to the National Park? Any favorite way to then get back on the trail, we'll be spending the evening in Harpers Ferry ?

Finally, isn't there a section(s) of paved trail that parallels the C&O as we draw closer to Georgetown? We'll be eventually making our way the Key Bridge. Thanks again

alan s 

From Williamsport, take 63 to Bakersville Road to 65, which will take you to the battlefield. Then depending on your route through the battlefield, take Harper’s Ferry road back to the towpath. The Capital Crescent Trail parallels the towpath for a couple miles before it ends. You can ride either.

robow

Thanks

robow

I don't mean to hijack the thread but I have a friend who is riding with us from Denver and needs to ship his bike back home upon completion of the C&O. Does anyone know of a reliable bike shop near the end of the trail in DC that handles the boxing and shipping of bikes? As always, thank you for your input.

alan s 

You might want to try the REI behind Union Station.

robow

Yea, we couldn't find the hidden passage last week at MM144 so we went on down to get on the new extension at Bill's Place. Btw, Bill's Place is now closed and the "Place" is for sale. I do hope someone picks it up and makes a go out of it since that was one of the only places you could gain refreshment midway between Cumberland and Hancock.

Also, if you get a chance, check out the Desert Rose Cafe in Williamsport, they're bike friendly and still serving up a fine sandwich and coffee along with a dose of sarcastic wit. One new place we stumbled upon was in Brunswick, Beans in the Belfry, what a neat little breakfast/sandwich shop set in an old small church, stained glass and all. Excellent pastries and baked goods.

And finally, I just have to mention that the inconsistencies and inefficiencies of Amtrak never cease to amaze me. We took the train from DC Union Station back up to Pittsburgh where we started our journey and this time, they wanted us to lay our bicycles on the floor and on their sides with no restraints available in an empty baggage car. So we had 6 bikes take up the entire floor space of this car, when if there had been either hooks on the wall or tethers on the wall where our bikes could have remained upright, increasing the bike carrying capacity of that small car by easily 4x. I've used the roll on service on Amtrak at least 4 or 5 times over the last few years and every time it's different as to how they want to transport our bikes. These people are just silly.

alan s 

Desert Rose Cafe and Beans in the Belfry are regular stops. Too bad about Bill’s Place. It was more of a biker bar, but they had good food. Maybe they decided to cash in on the money people put on the ceiling. Amtrak is all over the place. The first year the had nice wall mounts, but since then, it’s just been a free for all. They actually accommodate more bikes without the racks, and you don’t need to remove panniers, so it’s fine by me.