The story raised national interest, and the government made the C&O Canal a national monument in 1961, then a national historical park 10 years later. In 1972 the National Park Service began buying additional acreage to buffer the canal. Instead of a 5,000-acre linear park, the C&O Canal became a 20,000-acre walking and cycling path, with a few canal sections watered for use by canoes and kayaks. Today it’s one of the most popular national historical parks, experienced by about 4 million visi- tors each year. Our goal was to cycle significant portions of the towpath, camping as close to it as we could. Both our fifth-wheel trailer and our truck are equipped with hitch receivers into which we insert our bicycle rack. When we leave the trailer behind at a campground, we remove the bikes, insert the rack into the truck’s receiver, place the bikes back on the rack and go. For the best sightseeing, we selected major cultural at- tributes to cycle to, including aqueducts that carry the canal over intervening streams and creeks, river dams, tunnels, locks and lockhouses, some of which now serve as overnight lodgings for travelers. Tent campgrounds dapple the 185-mile park, and a few drive-in camping areas can serve as overnight stays for small RVs. From our home in Knoxville, Tennessee, we headed to a
mountain rather than construct a canal around it, but it took 14 years (1836–1850) to build this 3,118-foot-long shortcut using picks and shovels and a ton of black powder. Eva tried walking through the tunnel without a flashlight but came back after stumbling in the dark, clinging to the iron rail until she met the light of day again. Back in the truck, we left paved Highway 51 and picked up a rough gravel road back to Little Orleans, stopping at scenic Point Lookout where we had an eagle’s view of the serpentine Potomac gnawing its way through Green Ridge State Forest and the Allegheny Mountains. Before settling in for the night, we took a peek at Bill’s Place, a notable watering hole in Little Orleans. Bill’s is a boozy place with dollar bills stuck on the ceiling, a dining area and a modicum of canned goods. Cyclists and hikers can find enough Vienna sausages, Little Debbies, beans and peanut butter to sustain them until the next provisioning stop. A low railroad bridge from Bill’s to the Fifteenmile Creek camping area precludes the passage of motorhomes and tall trailers, although the Edenic spot is a per- fect place for camper vans and pop-up trailers. The Hancock Visitor Center at mile 125 is in the 1780 Bowles House, adjacent to the towpath. We walked down the towpath to the Tonoloway Creek Aqueduct. Beyond the 1837
Cyclists starting out from Cumberland, Maryland, can pedal 185 miles southeast along the C&O towpath to Georgetown in Washington, D.C. The perch from Point Lookout, right, showcases a scenic bend in the Potomac across from 243 acres once owned by George Washington.
campground in tiny Little Orleans, Maryland, about 50 miles south of Cumberland, staying two nights. Following an orienta- tion at the national park’s Cumberland Visitor Center, we drove Highway 51 south toward Lock 75 and put the bikes on the trail. The towpath is fine gravel, but at times it’s a bit bumpy. Our medium sized tires were perfect, but mountain bikes, the rental agency’s choice, are also suitable. Our ride took us to the Paw Paw Tunnel near mile 156, lined with 6 million bricks. The builders opted to blast through a
aqueduct are Locks 51 and 52 with only the skeletal remains of the accompanying lockhouse. The canal and towpath in these parts are pastoral avenues of green velvet with long alleys of empty waterway and paral- lel path. The saplings of 1828 have become hulking trees that provide natural drapery. The Potomac is placid and serene here with geese waddling in the shallows. Running beside the tow- path is a Rails-to-Trails bicycle path from the defunct Western Maryland Railroad.
fall 2013 COAST TO COAST 13
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