C&O Canal

The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal (“C&O”) lies next to the Potomac River, a 184-mile stretch from Cumberland, Md. to Washington, D.C. Built in 1824 as a series of locks to allow shipping and boat transport, it became a national park in 1938 and today serves as a popular biking and hiking trail for locals. Its end point is in Georgetown, marked by a obelisk monument. Several of the locks are visible in Georgetown and are still in use for demonstrations.

The canal runs parallel to the Potomac River and consists of 74 locks to allow boats to raise and lower accordingly. In 1924 it was shut down after a flood.

The path along the canal is a scenic, albeit dusty one. Most of the canal does not have water in it anymore, although floods still threaten restoration and maintenance of the canal. Fishing and boating are also very popular in the sections that are re-watered, and the park offers tours on reproduction canal boats in spring through autumn. The park rangers dress up in period costumes, open the locks and talk about the history of the canal. There are even three historic lockhouses where visitors can spend a night and learn about that time period's furnishings and household tools. The lockhouses were resided by lock keepers and their families.

The towpath is extremely popular with bikers, many of whom have attempted to bike the entire distance and succeeded. The path connects with the Great Alleghany Passage Trail, allowing people to bike 330 miles from Washington to Pittsburgh without ever encountering car traffic. The first 20 miles of the path starting in Washington is heavily traveled, but portions of the trail in the northern areas can be very rough, as the canal has become re-forested in areas and the path can pop a few tires. There are many campsites along the path where bikers can stop for the evening.

For nature lovers, there's plenty of natural rock formations and limestone caves, native plant communities, limestone forests, floodplain forests, scoured bedrock terrace habitat and wetlands. And for history buffs, there are historic bridges once carrying the railroad, and other about 1,300 historic structures, from dams to aqueducts to pumphouses, still carrying the stories of war, westward expansion, trade, commerce and immigration.

HelloMetro Tip: Many special events occur along the C&O Canal celebrating its historical highlights, including Civil War re-enactments, hikes, clean-ups, paddling trips and fundraising dinners.

- by Rin-rin Yu, Washington Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)

Rin-rin Yu

Rin-rin is an award-winning writer and journalist based in the Baltimore-Washington area. Her work has appeared in China Daily, DAYSPA magazine, Luxury Home Design, Aquatics International, Not For Tourists and other publications. Rin-rin has also worked for ABC News, WHDH-TV (NBC) in Boston and Hanley Wood Business Media. She has a master's degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She is an avid world traveler and maintains a travel blog, www.mytravelhats.com.