C&O / GAP Forum

I'm planning a GAP/C&O trip for June 2013 riding from D.C. to Pittsburgh and have read that many people have left a car for six days or more in Homestead, specifically at the Pumphouse. I'm wondering if I need to contact anyone in that area, is there designated parking, or do you just park anywhere and assume no one will bother your car?

BTW: I'm traveling solo and arranged a one way car rental from Wilkinsburg, It's about five miles from Hometsead, to D.C. for $130 for a Nissan Versa from Enterprise Car Rental. I had planned to take Amtrak. My bike would have had to have been boxed, The fee is $10/$15 for the box plus a $5 handling fee. Amtrak wouldn't allow me to bring along my BOB trailer so I didn't book with them. I also looked into charter busses, but they don't transport bikes.

As I have said in previous posts, I would b parking in the public lots near the major businesses. Simply because of all of the traffic, lights and activity. the pumphouse is remote and off the road, has a gravel lot and there are weekend markets there.

Thanks Lenny. I'm not familiar at all with the area. When you write to park near the businesses are you referring to those at The Waterfront? If so, do you contact businesses ahead of time for approval, or do I just show up, find a spot, and park?

Yes. The lots are vast and I doubt the businesses would notice another car

The closest business is a Lowes. There is also giant eagle, target and dicks nearby.

Perfect. Thanks the information Lenny and Doris. I appreciate it.

To the person renting a car in wilkensburg there is an enterprise in homestead not far off trail

I agree with the parking answers.

Enjoy your through-trek! If you'd enjoy having a fun, fast-moving photo session on the trail, contact Trail Photography Unlimited in the rail car in West Newton, PA. 20-30 minutes won't slow your trip down, and the trail photo experience will be unforgettable. Select photos & purchase from your personal online gallery after your ride!
www.trailphotos.biz

I contacted the people at the pump house. They ask the you donate money or become a member for $25 in order to park in their parking lot. I've looked at aerial and there are acres of open parking lots at this location.

I'd like to make forum users aware of a new business in West Newton, PA on the Great Allegheny Passage. Trail Photography Unlimited is a photography business specializing in through-trekkers on the GAP. Take time out from your ride for a fun, fast-moving, 20-30 minute photo session with your bike and your friends.

Continue your ride, and at your convenience select, crop, and purchase prints, merchandise, and digital downloads from your personal online gallery at www.trailphotos.biz.

Sound interesting to you?
Contact me at 724.263.4114 when you're in the WN area.
Betsy

Or contact me while you're planning for your trip! I'm in the rail car next to West Newton Station, but can meet you where you'd like.

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up that the Delfest (Bluegrass Festival) is scheduled for the Memorial Day Weekend (5/23 thru 5/26) at Cumberland, Maryland. This is a huge Bluegrass Festival. This year will feature the Old Crowe Medicine Show and Yonder Mountain who have a huge following.
Expect very large crowds. All Advance Tickets are sold out. Camping and Accomodations in the Cumberland, MD area may be hard to find during this time.

My daughter and I will be in Washington, D.C. in early June and expect to have several days free during which we would like to ride the C & O Canal bike trail. Please let me know whether there is any service that is available to rent us bikes and then take us to, say Harpers Ferry, so we can ride back to D.C.
Thanks.

Great news - The Paw Paw Tunnel Path is open!

The C&O Canal Trust secured a $5,000 donation from the Allegheny Trail Alliance (ATA) through Linda McKenna Boxx, president of ATA and an Trust Advisory Board member. The donation allowed the Park’s staff to perform geotechnical assessments, clear the towpath, stabilize the remaining rock, and install a rockfall protection fence for the safety of visitors.

Good ol' Linda. She does most of the heavy lifting for the GAP. We are lucky to have her!

Fantastic news, thanks for the update guys. A friend & I are planning on riding the full GAP/CO in early September and had been fearing based on earlier news that this tunnel might remain closed all year.

Yes, The TRAIL IS OPEN!

Heads up everyone, the C&O Canal Trail is closed from the west entrance of the Paw Paw Tunnel to about 300 feet from the east portal due to a rock slide back in January 2013. The NPS says they have not date to when they are going to start repairs or when the tunnel will be open again. You now have to detour over the 2 mile Tunnel Hill trail to get past the obstruction. Some cyclist say that this is not an option due to the weight of their machines. One possible solution would be to shuttle from the parking lot at Maryland 51 to Bond’s Landing or vice versa. Here are two individuals in Little Orleans who offer shuttle services. Steve Huebner, proprietor of Little Orleans Lodge, (301) 478-2102 or 481-1480 or Don Weatherly at (301) 478-2620. There has been some talk on the Yahoo Groups C&O Canal Trail site to detour north on Maryland 51 to Oldtown-Orleans Road. Bad idea. The road surface on Oldtown-Orleans Road is only paved for about the first couple of miles, then it turns into a dirt road who’s service resembles a wash board at times if you’re lucky. The grades are pretty stiff also. My advice to anyone thinking of a highway detour, DON’T. West Virginia 9 to Berkley Springs is mountainous with a very narrow shoulder; and as I stated Oldtown-Orleans Road is unimproved, ruff, and strenuous.

I read on C&O Canal Trust's Facebook site that the slide has been cleared and the trail is now open. Here is a link to their page. You may have to scroll down their timeline to early April.

The original post is out dated information! The TRAIL IS OPEN. The slide has been cleared and the embankment stabilized.
Again, the TRAIL IS OPEN.

is there room to camp with a 31foot motorhome

Evitts Creek is a hike in bike in campground.

Ray, (the Webmaster) I noticed no symbol legends for shuttle services. Are there any on either GAP and C&O trails from B&Bs or any entrepreneurials?

Definitely, there are several. Click on the Trip Planner link above (just below the trail map). Then select the Shuttle checkbox, and click the Build My List button, for a list of all the shuttle services that I know of.

Happy trails!

As you have noticed I would also like to know the formal east end. I see a Thompson Boat Center in Georgetown? But there is no identified trail from
the Key Bridge to the boat center. I know there are many intelligent cyclists in the DC area. Who can help a Chicagoan (truthfully), get it?

Mile marker 0 is behind Thompsons Boat Ctr. Not easy to find. But if you Goggle C&O Tow Path mile marker 0 on You Tube there is a nice directional video that shows the way.

DSD, how are you getting to mile marker 0? Are you driving there, being shuttled, riding your bike? We have been shuttled and they drop us off in the parking lot right next to Thompson's Boat house.

JJB, hopefully my wife will find the boat center since it will be the end of the full ride from Pittsburgh for me in late July. It's all fun.

Why not ride to one of the monuments on the mall ? Thats what we do, you can miss them. And its a mile away.

If you get to thompsons boat center go in and ask. They will show you. There is really nothing so exciting than to get your picture at mm 0. The first year we biked from pgh, it took us over an hour to mm 0. Funny thing, we were a stones throw away and could not see it.

Hello Fellow Hikers and Bikers,
A couple weeks ago volunteer groups in conjunction with the Park Rangers cleaned up tons of trash on the C&O Canal Trail.
Please help do your part to help keep the Park clean for the next guy who uses the trail. There are trash receptacles in place at various points along the trail, please use those to discard your trash. In short, whatever you take it, carry out. Please do your part to maintain the scenic beauty of the C&O Canal.

Great post Patrick. If you use it do your part and leave it as you found it.

Very nice Post.
I see a lot of trash around the popular "Boating Areas" along the Potomac. There is one area in particular right along the river that must be a favorite Teen Hangout or used by Fishermen. The trash was horrible.
If you use the Canal Trail please take out whatever trash you bring in.

Yes, good post. There's a local rail trail here that I ride, which volunteers and folks keep in good shape, but from time to time I'm dismayed when I ride by and see something that someone has careless tossed by the side - a Gatorade bottle, a Gu packet. Very inconsiderate people. How hard is it to bring back with you what you brought in?

I'm trying to determine if the entire route is paved or not. I would like to ride my road bike the entire length this summer west to east and have heard that all is paved except for a 12 mile stesch? Is this true? if so is there a paved rout around this? If not how much is pave and how much is not?

If you are asking if the C&O and GAP are paved the answer is no. I would not recommend a road bike on the C&O. I think you would be safe to use a road bike on the GAP if you had to.

JJB. You're right.

Can anyone offer advice? I'm looking for a two day out and back trip (ride out one day and back the next day) that will be about 20-25 miles each way. What's a good place to depart from (safe parking) and a good place to spend the night (B&B or comfy hotel with some restaurant choice for dinner) that will be within that 20-25 mile range. Thanks for any tips!

Which trail/where do you want to begin? On GAP or C&O I suppose due to site we're on?

Two rides my wife and me do, although the same day start an finish, are. On the GAP Connellsville to Confluence. Great Trailhead at Connellsville with parking, and lots of lodging in Confluence, 28 miles one way. The one on the C&O that I am planning for this summer is. Williamsport to Harpers Ferry , about 35 miles one way. Same amenities. If that ride is to long , stop at Shepardstown.

I have to go with Lenny on this. Connellsville to Confluence would be a great ride. It has two nice trail heads with plenty to do at each and there is Ohiopyle in the middle. My wife and I love the Ohiopyle area. One thing to keep in mind is that portion of the trail can get pretty busy during the weekend.

Why is the mileage chart here listing McKeesport instead of Homestead at the west end of the GAP?

Click above on the grid chart, it is complete.

We are taking a three day bike trek from Williamsport to Shepardstown to Harpers Ferry and back. I don't quite understand the "detour" which takes you off the Canal Path between Williammsport and Shepardstown. Google maps shows a section of the path just "missing". Are there signs that detour you? Are you dumped on roads? I am guessing there is light traffic only?

The detour is no more. The towpath is open all the way through hat section

THANK YOU kindly!!

The area you are describing is known as the Big Slackwater. For years bikers were detoured from this area due to significant erosion and landslides in the area. As of the Fall of 2012, this area has been recontructed and is open for bike travel. Most likely the maps have yet to be updated.

that worked

Ray, I get a blank page. But if I change the message I usually can post.

There are times that I can not get the sight to accept the comment for witch I have submitted the password.Then I must rewrite and resubmit. Whats up? Is it me???

Lenny, sorry you are running into problems. I am not sure what you are experiencing. Does the web page give you an error message, or just a blank page, or it acts like you didn't type the right letters for spam prevention, or some other type of behavior?

If it's a problem with the spam prevention, I have a few ideas to try that might make it work better.

We're trying to figure out where to stay between West Newton and Pittsburgh in August 2013, when the GAP is scheduled to be completed. Also, the GAP official sight shows more information as you get closer to Pittsburgh than on this site. We're coming from Cumberland. Can we ride all the way into Pittsburgh? How about the Clairton connector? to

There isn't much there. Maybe at Homestead, McKeesport or Duquesne, but I have never had need for lodging on that stretch as Pgh. is only 36 miles from West Newton.

There's a Courtyard Marriott and now a Hampton Inn right on the trail in Homestead. In Pittsburgh there are several more hotels within a few blocks of the trail (not even counting the ones in downtown Pittsburgh). The official GAP website also shows a place in Boston PA (a little bit off the trail I think). I don't think there's anything in Duquesne or McKeesport, or on the Clairton connector. There are some hotels on the Montour Trail, but all up near the Coraopolis end, far from the GAP.

Most stop overnight at lenoras in perryopolis. That gives you a day's ride into Pittsburgh.

For those of you who don't know. I was online with the C&O Nation Park Service web site today and copied the following information to here.

A rock slide occurred sometime on January 20, 2013 and has blocked a 100 foot section of the towpath east of the Paw Paw Tunnel. The Paw Paw Tunnel and this section of towpath are currently closed and will remain so until a full assessment of the area can be made to safely conduct repairs. A detour route has been established on the Paw Paw Tunnel Hill trail. For additional information, call the Cumberland Visitor Center at (301) 722-8226.

Here is hoping they will have it open again soon.

Just read on the C&O Canal FaceBook page that this looks like a pretty major problem. They are saying that there is a lot more unstable area than what has come down. I have read that the trail could be closed at Paw Paw Tunnel for all of 2013. There is a hiking trail that they are talking about that may be used as a detour. However, most people are saying it will be very hard to take a loaded bike on that trail. And that is walking it, not riding it. For anyone considering a through trip I would strongly suggest checking into this further.

The surounding embankment of the EAST Side of the C&O Canal Trail leading up to the Paw Paw Tunnel is highly unstable. It has collapsed and they are worried about further landslides. This is very heavy rock! The detour will be the Tunnel Hill Hiking Trail which has been the horse trail for years. The first 100 foot section may be a little steep, but the rest of the trail would be a breeze. If you are fit enough to ride the entire distance of the C&O Canal you should have no issues. It's very scenic with views of the River from the top. It will be a nice hiking experience.
***
For your personal safety please follow the advice of the Park Service.

The C&O Canal Trust and GAP have both updated their FaceBook pages yesterday. It looks like they are going to be able to repair the area and are hoping to have it done "in the next two to three weeks". Looks like they are pushing to have it done so that the people can ride the entire trail this year. That would have sucked to get the final portion of the trail done only to have another section closed. Good news indeed!!

It seems that 99% of comments refer to McKeesport rather than Homestead for departure
or arival. What's the hype of McKeesport ?

Scrolled back 4 pages and can't find a reference to McKeesport. ???

The trail used to end in McKeesport. Maybe you were looking at old posts? There's also lots of outdated advice on the web to start your trip in Boston PA.

If you're leaving tomorrow, start in Homestead. If you're leaving after June 2013, start in Pittsburgh.

This place is not listed, but the Real Deal across from the C&O Bicycle Shop in Hancock burned down in late February. Arson is suspected. The Real Deal was a total loss while the C&O Bicycle Shop sustained loss of windows, heat and water damage. It appears that Dennis, proprietor of C&O Bicycle Shop, is repairing the damage and will be open for business in 2013, though it he may be late in doing so. Strongly encourage everyone to stop by, say hello to Dennis and purchase something, any thing, to help him out.

Looks like the bike shop will be reopening on April 8.