C & O Canal towpath history

 C&O Canal National Park History for the cyclist

Before you go on a C & O Canal cycle tour.. 

3 Day Highlight Tour or 6 Day Full Tour

..you should know a little bit about this amazing National Park that starts in the heart of Washington DC.

First of all the C&O Canal is short for the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.  The goal had been to build a transportation system from Washington DC to Pittsburgh, the Ohio River Valley, who knew that it would be most successful as a bike trail from Washington DC to Pittsburgh. 

The roots of the C and O Canal start at none other than George Washington, who founded the Potowmack Company in 1785 to make navigability improvements to the Potomac River.  The Patowmack Company focused on building a number of small skirting canals that allowed down stream boat traffic to avoid the major rapids of the Potomac.

The C&O Company was chartered in 1825 to construct a shipping canal connecting tidewater on the Potomac River in DC with the headwaters of the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania.  The C and O operated in various levels of completion starting in 1836 until it ceased operation in 1924.  

In 1850, the canal reached Cumberland, Maryland, located at the edge of the Allegheny Front, a daunting 1000 foot escarpment.  Unfortunately for the canal, it was eight years behind the B&O Railroad. 

The total length of the canal is 184.5 miles (300 km). The elevation change of 605 ft (185 m) was accommodated with 74 canal locks and 11 aqueducts.  Many of these structures are still visible today as we bike along the towpath to Cumberland. 

In 1938, the U.S. government purchased the right of way of the 184.5 mile long canal. The government hoped to restore it as a natural recreational area. The first 22 miles of the canal had been repaired and rewatered when World War II restrictions halted the remainder of the project.

Following the war the Federal government decided that the canal should be turned into a parkway

U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas and the actions he took saved the C&O Canal. Popular response to and press coverage of Justice William O. Douglas actions turned the tide against the parkway idea and, on January 8, 1971 the canal was designated a National Historical Park.

Today the C & O Canal National Historic Park, includes nearly 20,000 acres (80 km²) and receives over 3 million recorded visits each year.  The major use of the park is cycling on the towpath.  Close to Washington DC, the towpath serves bike commuters en masse.  Once beyond the beltway, the fervor of Washington fades and you will feel as if you are cycling along in the early 1900’s.   Through bikers, traversing the entire length of the canal are a much more common sight nowdays then mules pulling barges.

 Flooding continues to threaten historical structures on the canal and attempts at restoration. The Park Service has rewatered portions of the canal, but the majority of the canal does not have water in it.

Would you like more detailed C & O Canal information

 Looking for more information before your cycle tour through the C & O Canal National Park?

C & O Canal Park information

C & O Canal towpath surface for biking

C & O Canal Towpath Sites and Facts 

Pictures of the C & O Canal Towpath National Park

Take a cycling trip on the C and O Canal

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