Tandem Tom

We will be riding this way in April and plan to use the C&O Towpath. But I was wondering if anyone has a road route for this route? Just in case the C&O is really bad.
Thanks!

JimF22003

You can get as far as Sharpsburg/Shepardstown fairly easily. I'm not sure about the rest of the way.

Take the W&OD trail to the end of the trail at Purcellevile, and then something like this to Shepardstown:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/3971626

spinnaker

Darn I wish I had my GPS with me at the time but there is a very nice route between Harpers Ferry and Hagerstown. We took it for the same purpose. Rain and mud!, mud an rain on the C&O! It takes you past the battlefield.

Also don't forget the Western Maryland Rail Trail . About 25 miles of paved surface that parallels the C&O.

alan s 

I took to the roads after a hurricane made the towpath more or less impassable. Williamsport to DC. The route was shorter, but so hilly, if there was any way I could have ridden the towpath, I would have. You may want to map something out as a backup, but be ready for some tough riding. The WMRT is a nice break, regardless, and there may be decent routes on the other side of the river.

Also, you can take Whites Ferry across to mile 35 after riding the paved W&OD to Leesburg. Bikewashington.org has the routes.

ClemY

You might want to consider going from Cumberland to DC. At least that way is down hill, if only slightly.

Condition of the tow path will depend on how rough the winter is on the trail, plus any Spring flooding. There are websites which provide fairly up to day info on the condition of the path.

Tandem Tom

Unfortunately the route needs to start in DC as this is one link in our cross country ride.

ClemY

What is your ride? When I was planning my cross country ride, I was planning on using most of the ACA Northern Tier to PA, then taking the side route to Pittsburg, then the Great Alleghany Passage to Cumberland and the C&O Canal Tow Path to DC. The GAP is a better ride than the C&O. The C&O is pretty rough gravel. The GAP is a crushed gravel rail trail and nicer to ride, at least it was last July when I did it.

BobG

The only alternate I see on the west side would be to take Jim F's route to Shepherdstown WV. From there continue on to Martinsburg WV (Rt. 45 or Google alternate?). From Martinsburg take the circuitous (brutally hilly?) WV Rt. 9 to Berkeley Springs, Great Cacapon and on to Paw Paw. From Paw Paw check canal conditions again or take MD Rt. 51 west to Cumberland.

Note: I have not cycled any of this route and cannot comment on the safety of any of these roads. On Google street view they look rural but often narrow and shoulderless. Pick up the paper MD state map. It shows a lot of state routes on both side of the river. The VA map is not that good, I haven't seen the WV map. Supplement them with Google.

Considering your early spring departure I still think you'd be wise to continue from DC 2 days on south to the TransAm as I suggested on your St L thread. You'd be heading into the blossoming Spring at prime time with everything mapped out for you all the way to St L rather than back north on a potentially muddy towpath or trying to find an alternate. Do you have a route already planned on west from Pittsburgh? The TransAm is actually a fairly direct route to St Louis.......

https://www.adventurecycling.org/rout...rview-map-pdf/

Philly Tandem

When I rode the C&O west to east a few years ago, I hopped back and forth between the trail and neighboring roads a good bit, as I got bored just riding on the trail. I found paralleling roads pretty easily using a MD bike map (PDF available on the Web) and the invaluable mile-by-mile maps I downloaded from bikewashing.org (https://bikewashington.org/canal/). Beware that the paralleling roads can be very hilly in spots.

I rode mostly local roads from Williamsport to Harpers Ferry, through Antietam. The route was nice, albeit hilly (especially coming into Harper's Ferry), and went through cool old communities, farmhouses, stone walls, etc. I did another local road diversion at Point of Rocks on Rt. 28. It had rolling hills and wasn't as scenic as the first diversion (mostly just open farmland).

I've detailed a few of my "off-route" diversions in my C&O trip report at https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/cando-tour

As others have noted, you could take the W&OD trail from DC to Leesburg, which is all paved (it's a good bit longer than riding the C&O, though). From there you could ride Rt. 15 to Point of Rocks, but this is a really busy road and I wouldn't necessarily advise it unless you have no other option. (It's ok to ride the short section from Leesburg to White's Ferry, though.) From White's Ferry you could cut north across to Rt. 28 and then to Point of Rocks.

In my opinion, mixing up the C&O trail proper with side roads when available makes for a nice trip. Unless the trail is a wreck, I'd ride it from DC to Harper's Ferry. Any side routing will probably at least double your mileage plus add lots of hills, without a commensurate gain in scenery. As long as you are OK with hills, at Harper's Ferry you could easily ride the side roads to Williamsport at least, adding in some interesting and historic scenery en route (Antietam, etc.). The Western Maryland Rail Trail gives you 20+ miles of glorious asphalt a few miles west of Williamsport to about MP 137.

BruceHankins

Given the weather we're having right now, not great conditions. I plan on riding from Shepardstown, WV to Leesburg (or Reston on the W&OD if I feel up to the return trip) this spring also.

BobG

The Park Service map shows the adjacent alternates and topography very clearly in one picture..........

https://www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisi...ad/parkmap.pdf

BobG

The USGS maps show the topography in brutal detail. Type in any location on the canal, zoom in and drag in any direction. Any alternates north of Hancock look like pure torture! Tom, I'd probably stick to the canal up there no matter what shape it's in.

https://store.usgs.gov/b2c_usgs/usgs/...&uiarea=2)/.do

Tandem Tom

I think you are right. Muddy trail vs. lots of hills!!

spinnaker

You will have a couple of hills that will get your attention between Harpers Ferry and Hagerstown (the one right out of Harpers Ferry for one) but there is nothing that awful bad. I went in the reverse direction and I think there was maybe one where I had to just give up and walk the last bit. And I am horrible at hills. You should do fine. If you are on the tandem, it might be just a bit tougher but I still think it beats the mud. Also that is a beautiful road.

BobG

That said, MD 144/US 40 west of Hancock might work in a pinch. It parallels I 68 so most of the traffic should be over there.

iforgotmename

The last time I rode the GAPCO west to east it was quite rainy and muddy. It wasn't particularly tough just dirty. If you have full fenders and tires with a little trad you should be fine.
If you do decide to divert I would recommend checking out the Great Falls just outside of DC before you divert off trail.

alan s 

Mile 0 in DC to Mile 26 is in decent condition, so you shouldn't worry about that portion even if wet. Beyond that, it can get a lot muddier in areas, with more puddles and a generally rougher terrain. If wet, you'll slow way down due to increased suction and having to ride around or through bad areas. When the towpath is saturated, my widest tires (Big Apples 26x2.35) do the best, but I'll easily lose 3-4 mph off my average speed.