C&O / GAP Forum

Is it legal to park at pump station in Homestead?4

Yes and it’s encouraged albeit not foe overnight parking. It’s parking area is occasionally closed for special events held there on a particular day, usually a Friday or Saturday but there are a variety of other places riders can park in the adjoining shopping center.

Thank you

Son and I are doing GAP next week. We'd be camping and he will be using a hammock. Are the mosquitos bad this time of year and will he need a bug net for his hammock. He has the rain fly, but didn't know about mosquitos.

Thanks!

Mosquitos are not much of an issue along the GAP as long as you camp in the maintained mown areas. Now the C&O is a different story until the weather gets colder.

Thank you. I did it several years ago and didn't remember mosquitos but wanted to make sure..

We will be riding the GAP from Cumberland to Pittsburgh at the end of this month, Sept '24. Are there any trail closures or detours that we should be aware of ?? Very much looking forward to this trip.

There are no actual or planned closures or detours at this time. The most recent detour between Adelaide and Dawson has ended.

Good News. Just saw this on the GAP's webpage. Closure Between Mile Markers 92 and 94.5 (GAP Mile 92) Cleared: Project completed on 8/31; GAP open for normal travel
Reported: June 3, 2024
Last Updated September 1, 2024

Thank you for sharing! Than is great news!

I see I reviewed the Donges Drive Inn way back in 2013. This time we (myself, my two brothers, my sister, a sister-in-law, and my wife) stayed at the Donges Motel while biking the great Allegheny Passage. It was clean, quiet, and comfortable, just what I expect for a bike ride.

I’m staying there now. It’s called the Crosstrails Hostel and is not in Harpers Ferry. You have to go past mm 59 and double back up a hill to the hostel. Google tried to take me on Harpers Ferry Road to Sandy Hook Road cutting off before mm 61 to Harpers Ferry. These roads are closed and ther was no way to access them from the trail. It caused a heap of confusion. I’m glad i came this way because now I just have to go back down a hill and will be further down the trail. It used to be an American Youth hostel for 50 years a volunteer told me but they had staffing and other problems and shut down for a time in 2019. Now there’s a manager and several volunteers. You can make online reservations. It’s $30 to stay in the dorm. They have men and women’s dorms. They have a private room and camping too. They do host groups from time to time and then are not open to the public. I think it’d be better than the KOA cause you can stay inside out of the elements. You get a towel, blankets and sheets. They offered breakfast food too, but it didn’t say that on the website.

Patty: I’m a little confused (as is often the case). For me to be clear, if you were riding upriver, where did you cross over the railroad tracks to get to Sandy Hook Road without getting on Haepers Ferry Road near the railroad tunnel?

Please forgive my ignorance.

I believe that you would cross the railroad tracks closer to mm 58 where the Appellation Trail turns north off the C&O trail.

After crossing the RR tracks go to the left on Keep Tryst Rd. Go up the hill ~.7 mile turn left on Sandy Hook Road.

Another tenth of a mile after Sandy Hook Road is the Guide House Grill (great place by the way), a great liquor store.

"Ah said the blind man, now I see it". An uphill jaunt but doable. Thanks for that info. I'll be passing by that way next week in route from DC to Pittsburgh.

I just want to add my experience with the Hostel. Last Fall, I made reservations to stay one night at the Hostel. When I called to get directions, from the Harpers Ferry trail marker, I was told that there was not an opening that night. I explained that I already paid an overnight fee via credit card. The manager said sorry, but my reservation was cancelled, on the spot, and that I would receive a refund. We ended up staying at the KOA in Harpers Ferry. Despite phone calls and emails, I never got a refund from the Hostel. That is my experience and obviously do not recommend staying there.

I stayed at the Cross Trails Hostel last night. I’m surprised at the negative reviews here. Booking a dorm bed via the website was painless, and the staff had no trouble with my booking when I arrived. Directions from the trails (AT and C&O) to the hostel are on the website. The place is clean, quiet, welcoming, inexpensive, and exactly as advertised on the website.

The only exception worth noting is that the Hillside Restaurant reportedly 0.3 miles from the hostel has recently closed and decamped to Purcellville. This means you must either hike/bike back to Brunswick or Harper’s Ferry for dinner or buy some groceries in advance to cook in the hostel’s kitchen.

If you’re biking from downriver and plan to shop at the Weis grocery store in Brunswick (as recommended on the hostel’s website), be aware that hill up to the highway from the river has a 12% grade. A bit of a slog with a loaded bike at the end of a day’s ride…

There are a few routes to get you to the weis from the tow path. I would do walnut st from the train station, right on georgia ave, left on brunswick st, right on valley trail (across from west end playground), bear left about 0.7 miles to stay on valley trail. This will take you out past the beach volleyball court onto potomac view pkwy, which is behind the weis. Of course, you've still got about 300' of elevation gain to deal with but I suspect most people riding the tow path will be more comfortable on this route.

While the various trail closures and detours on the GAP and C&O trails are cited in various web sites, I'll identify the significant ones that I encountered in my trip from Pittsburgh to DC last week.

GAP Trail - Between mile markers 95.5 (Dawson Trailhead) and 92 (Adelaide Blue Canoe RV Park). The trail is closed between these locations for construction. A shuttle service for the riders and their bikes is provided for free between these locations. The service is provided 7 days a week from 7:30 AM to 7:00 PM. Expect the shuttle to require 30 to 45 minutes. I do not recommend trying to ride your bike along the detour on the roads between these points.

C&O Towpath - At C&O mile 134.3, Polly Pond Creek, the trail is closed for a bridge failure over the creek. There is a detour sign at Lock 56 (mile marker 136.2) that directs you across a causeway up to and over the WMRT onto Pearre Road to Deneen Road and back to the Towpath at Cohill Station (mile marker 131.3) This an onerous and likely unnecessary detour. Alternately, I was able to leave the Towpath up onto the parallel WMRT and avoid the Towpath bridge outage. Where there are signs along the WMRT itself approaching Hancock stating that sections of the WMRT may/are closed, the WMRT was open far enough for me to bypass the Towpath bridge closure and return to the Towpath toward Hancock. This is a much better detour. I recommend you stop oncoming riders from Hancock and inquire their route going upriver from Hancock on the Towpath and WMRT.

C&O Towpath - There is a detour on the Towpath at mile marker 106 for construction at Dam 5. This is a short detour but requires going up/down two flights of wooden stairs. There are planks provided along the stair steps to push/roll your bike along the steps but this is very difficult with a fully-loaded bike. You may have to unload/reload your bike to navigate the stairs or have another rider assist you.

C&O Towpath - There is construction work along the towpath between miles 11 and 11.5 requiring its closure. The detour takes you up onto and along a public road before returning to the Towpath. There are shallow steps to the road but there are earthen paths adjacent to the steps to facilitate taking your bike up and down.

There are a few, very minor detours for washouts along the Towpath but these are very short and inconsequential.

Hopefully this info helps. You can find more details about these closures/detours on the GAP and NPS C&O Canal websites.

Thanks for the updates

Appreciate the updates. I'm heading out in 9 days for my trip.

Thanks, doing the trip with my son the week of the 23rd. His first time doing the GAP.

Note the GAP Trail closure between MM95.5 and MM92 is scheduled to be completed by mid-October so watch the GAP Trail website for updates.