C&O / GAP Forum

Do I need to make reservations for the Evitts Creek Campground in Cumberland?

No. Evitt’s Creek is a free hiker/biker site as part of the C&O Canal. Just show up and pitch a tent.

I should add that Evitts Creek is right next to a train yard and you will hear the banging of cars and engines going all night.

You could go 4.8 miles further to Irons Mountain hiker/biker site. There are only 2 rails lines nearby here but no where near as busy as Evitts Creek.

As John W notes you can go downriver from the free Evitts Creek Hiker/Biker campsite to the Iron Mountain H/B campsite to avoid some train noise. Another option might be to camp at the Cumberland YMCA campsite. There is a modest fee ($12) to camp there but you have access to the facilities at the YMCA...most importantly their showers. There is also an outdoor pavilion in their camping area should you encounter or expect rain overnight. There is a train spur near the campground but it was not frequently used when I stayed there. There is also a street that runs nearby but I didn't notice any car traffic after I went to sleep. There is an online campsite request form but I simply walked in late in the afternoon to the YMCA entry desk and obtained a campsite. There typically aren't many that camp there.

White’s Ferry, near Leesburg, VA is closed indefinitely. When riding from Cumberland to D.C., is there a recommended work around? My husband and I had planned to stay in Shepherdstown and then Leesburg before riding into D.C. I would appreciate input on this, as it is our first thru-bike tour.

I would call your hotel and ask if you can be picked up since Whites Ferry is out for the season. I’m not sure if they will do it but it’s worth a shot.

Thanks, John W. We do not yet have a reservation in Leesburg, so we may opt to remain on the trail and see what may be found a bit closer to D.C. We had hoped to use Leesburg to break up the mileage...staying flexible!

It’s good you remain flexible. Not a lot of hotel choices on the Maryland side until you’re practically in DC. It’s such a shame the ferry is out. Hopefully it’s resolved soon. If you decide to look into Leesburg one more time, ask if they offer a shuttle and can collect you from Point of Rocks, MD, which is the closest active bridge cars use and reach you down at the C&O. It’s worth a shot but not sure how eager they will be to collect you and your bikes and, of course, bring you back the next day. But it’s worth calling and asking at least...tell them your cycling the C&O. They will know Whites Ferry is out.

Another option is to adjust your nightly stops. I’ve done Cumberland to Hancock, Hancock to Harpers Ferry, Harpers Ferry to DC. That’s about 60 miles a day but I don’t know what you will be comfortable with. You could still stop at Shepardstown for lunch or dinner.

Comfort suites in Leesburg will pickup from Point of Rocks. Room rate is $20 higher but well worth it. We were trying also to avoid a 60 mile day.

Also, try Gaithersburg or Germantown in MD. There are a ton of places there and they may well pick you up from Whites Farry.

Do any ride hailing services exist in and out of these towns? Could be an option but I never know how far their service areas are.

There are two hotels in brunswick md, including a new holiday inn express.

Is there anything in the way of a cafe or restaurant or any type of food availability anywhere close to “Turtle Run Hiker Biker site in Whites Ferry. Also “Jordan Junction”??
Or should we plan to purchase food on the way there and keep in panniers?
(We are traveling West to East)

For Turtle Run, there is nothing nearby. I would pack food and water in.

Jordan Junction on the other hand is just about 2-3 miles before Williamsport. So you’ll have plenty of restaurant options. I usually stop at Tony’s Pizza but there are many other places. You could even order subs from Sheetz touch screen menu and bring it back to camp.

The Whites Farry Cafe is a few miles from Turtle Run. They have great sandwiches and would love your business!!

Is the Whites Ferry Cafe still open since the ferry is reportedly not operating?

Their facebook page had an update yesterday, so I would guess that they are still open.

https://www.facebook.com/whitesferrystoreandgrill/

Hours are 9am-6pm so don’t wait too long to get here if this is your dinner destination for the night. They are closed on Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s, keep that in mind.

Like Rivnuts mentioned, I’m pleasantly surprised to see them still open despite the Ferry being shuttered.

Just saw their traditional web site: https://www.whitesferrygrill.com/

I wonder if they have new owners in the last couple years? When I stopped there 3-4 years ago, the grill part was pretty basic fare. They’ve definitely expanded their menu!

Anyways, glad to hear this is open since Leesburg is out and there isn’t much else near by.

Planning a GAP trail ride towards the latter part of May. I am hoping to leave my car in Cumberland and arrange for a shuttle to Pittsburgh. I've had no luck finding a one way car rental. And a few of the shuttle services don't seem to be operating right now (season or Covid?) I did find one that will shuttle but at a price of $275 per person. Any help out there? Thanks.

We rent a vehicle at Enterprise in Cumberland. You can leave your car there and take the rental vehicle, with bike and gear, to the Enterprise in downtown Pittsburgh.

While its a longer drive to Pittsburgh from Maine, you might find more options to locate a one-way rental in Pittsburgh and drive to Cumberland and ride back to Pittsburgh if you can't find a rental in Cumberland. Not your best option I'm sure.

We rented at Enterprise in Pittsburgh and drove to Cumberland and dropped off at the Enterprise there. It was pretty cheap. The trail goes very close to the Enterprise store, so we jumped on there and rode ~1 mile down to the center of Cumberland.

Rode the trails from 4/20 - 4/27, starting at DC.
No water pump handles for the first 100 miles or so, so plan your water accordingly.
Trail conditions were good all the way. Many of the small town cafes and restaurants were closed, not sure if it was due to the economy or maybe they don't open until May. So food and water needed to be planned. All campsites especially the hike/bike sites were basically empty.
Some nights were freezing and days were mainly in the 50's with a head wind all the way. So going west to east would have been a better bet.
Great way to spend a week and highly recommend it. Hope to do it again, but from Pitts to DC next time.
Both closed trail locations, Paw Paw Tunnel and Dravos Landing were passable, just ignore the signs and you can get through easily.
The Ohiopyke State camp ground accessible from the trail up a very steep rough trail just west of the town, so make sure you have a booking before the climb!

Kim, I think that I heard that the Ohiopyle State Park was adding some simple sites down closer to the trail. Did you see them?

Bill: Someplace/somewhere I seem to recall that that initiative was delayed/deferred, perhaps due to the Covid pandemic. Having camping sites near the trail there would be very useful to avoid the very steep paths to reach the current park sites.

I’ll see if I can find where I read that.

When I was talking to one of the camp site maintenance guys about the tough path for cyclists after a long day cycling, he did not mention anything about a closer to trail site. But there is some earthworks being worked on at the start of the path, maybe that'll turn into a small tent site.
BTW. Cabins can only be rented for a 2 day min. I was lucky and got a kind gate attendant :-). Book ahead!

I found the reference to a new “Biker only - Nearer the Trail” campsite in Ohiopyle rather than having to climb the steep hill into the existing state park. It is in the Gaptrail.org website. It lists this trail side camp site as “Coming Fall 2020”. Perhaps the observed earthwork at the start of the path up the hill is indeed the initial effort for this site. Time will tell.

Those sites probably got slowed down by the virus. They will be a nice feature for cyclists.

Hi Kim,
This is a long shot, but did you by chance attend the University of Utah in the late 70’s?

Barron's C&O Canal Store & Museum near Sharpsburg is closed - another death by COVID.

Anyone familiar with the expected rain fall in late August/ September? Starting to worry about a muddy path

Late August will still be warm as will the first week in September. Rain is hit or miss like anywhere in the northeast. Even if it rained 2-3 days ago, the C&O likely will be muddy in spots. The best approach is to just embrace it as part of the adventure and plow through the puddles and mud. If you are staying at hotels, most along the trail will have hoses to rinse your bikes. If your camping, the water pumps at the hiker/biker site will allow you to clean up really well.

I’ve done the trail 5 times and have never had more than an afternoon of rain. No one can predict weather systems so it’s all just a guess really.

To provide a quantitative answer to your question see the link below that provides monthly weather data for Cumberland, MD, the approximate midpoint of the full trip from Pittsburgh to DC. Admittedly, as John W points out, the weather can vary widely both with time and location. The US hurricane season is given as June 1 through November 30. If you are unfortunate enough to encounter remnants of an Atlantic hurricane travelling up the east coast during your trip, it could be rather uncomfortable and warrant adjusting your itinerary. Notwithstanding that scenario, a day or partial day of rain should be expected for a week long trip. Yes, it can make portions of the trip a little sloppy, but that should not dissuade you from making the journey. Just grin and bear it and enjoy all the other days. With resurfacing of many miles of the C&O recently along with the paved Western Maryland Rail Trail that parallels the C&O for over 20 miles, that trail is much improved making wet weather less of an issue. For what it is worth, my last trip was bone dry the entire length making dust rather than mud the issue to contend with.

If you are flexible on your schedule, just watch for 10-day forecast and pick some forecasted dry days for your journey. But most of all, enjoy the journey.

https://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/cumberland/maryland/united-states/usmd0115

Work is continuing on the trail which is passable, but still not officially opened. From Boston, about 4.5 miles east is still "un-paved" and bumpy from 2B stone used for the heavy equipment, to the tracks of the large excavators.From near milepost 124 (near the bald eagle nest), the trail is finished with smooth crushed limestone for about 1.5 miles until Dravo Campground. From there to Buena Vista is still not finished. Hopefully, if the decent weather holds, they can get this done soon.

The section that is completed is very nice. Like riding on the PA turnpike after the bumpy ride on the unfinished trail. And the eagles are out and visible for a couple more weeks until the leaves come out on the trees.

On Thursday I was riding back from an overnight bikepacking trip from near Ohiopyle to West Newton. (No, I didn't see the wildfire in Ohiopyle.) I decided to continue on from West Newton toward Pittsburgh to see the condition of the trail where the sewer replacement work is being done. While there are still "Trail Closed" signs posted at the Elizabeth Sanitary Station and beyond, the trail surface had been restored with crushed stone like the original trail surface. As Rick from Greenock observed, the resurfaced trail was well compacted and generally smooth with a few pock marks/divots where the crushed gravel was not quite flush with the surface in general but still did not diminish the ride quality. With use and rain, I expect the surface to smooth out even more and be as good or better than the original surface. The recent and forecast nice weather bodes well for completion and full reopening of the trail by the end of the month.

Now if only the Paw Paw Tunnel area was open. :-)

Any updates on this closed section from recent riders?

We'd like to know about this section of the trail as well as we are looking at riding from Boston to Connellsville, spending the night and riding back the next day. We ride road bikes with 28cm tires. Thanks!

Resurfacing is now completed. Some sections are still rough but passable. Work is continuing in places to replace the posts at the road crossings. Traffic on the trail is still light but steadily increasing.

Be aware that the shoulders are still soft and not packed down so stay toward the center

Rick: That’s great news. I look forward to checking out that portion of the trail this week. I’m curious what the term “rough” indicates. I presume they have now placed, leveled and compacted the new crushed stone surface layer over the entire affected trail section.

Today I rode the GAP from Homestead to Sutersville and back including the portion of the trail that has been closed since November for sewer installation/repair. The majority of the installation and restoration is complete but not quite all. There was still various locations of construction activity and equipment movement. Nearly all of this activity was between the Boston trailhead parking lot and Twele Road. (See the GAP Trail Map.)
There was still some crushed stone being delivered, placed and compacted toward the Boston end of this ~2-mile section. Also there is still some patch paving to be done of access roads that cross the trail in that section. This activity was avoidable by riding on Smithfield Street which parallels the trail in this area. Given what small amount of trail remains to be finished, the level of activity I observed and the nice weather forecast for this week, substantial completion by the end of the month would appear achievable.

As noted most of the trail is complete and very nice riding. The new trail surface very smooth...almost like riding on an asphalt roadway and the reseeding of the excavated shoulder along the trail is a lush green.

To be clear however, the Regional Trail Council has not officially announced that the trail is reopened and there are still numerous "Trail Closed" signs along the way. However, the majority of 9-mile section of work is complete and rideable most of the way with a reasonable bypass along Smithfield Street where significant activity and work may still be encountered. There were numerous bikers along most of the trail in each direction.

As a sidebar observation, the Trail View Convenience Store in Buena Vista/Industry is now closed with what looks like major fire damage.

Nice recap Rivnuts, thanks for sharing your trip.

If you’re confident it might be completed by the end of this month (or even mid-May), then I know I’ll be fine for my trip in June.

Sad to hear about the fire to the convenience store in Buena Vista. I’ve used that store a few times to get water/gatorade so that will be a missed amenity along the GAP.

Today the Regional Trail Council (RTC) has announced that the 9-mile section of the GAP Trail that was closed from Boston to Buena Vista for sewer line repairs will reopen on May 1.

Congrats to the RTC for supporting this public effort and returning the trail for the 2021 touring season. As I posted yesterday, this restored section of the GAP appears to quite well done both in the trail surface and the surrounding landscape restoration.
Hopefully, others as well will post their observations about this restored trail section.

My husband &I tried to ride out of Boston towards Ohiopyle. We usually get in 15-20 miles. But with the fine sand or dust on the surface we only could do 2 miles. Is that going to be packed down or will water harden it? We bike that trail often

As I noted following my ride last Wednesday, the final efforts to complete the restoration work were focused in the trail section leaving Boston toward Greenock. Crews appeared to be working their way back toward Boston placing and compacting the new crushed stone surface to complete the project. While the newly compacted material was smooth and firm, there was that shallow, loose layer of dust on the surface which made riding a little heavy as you noted. I suspect that with the rain we had yesterday, perhaps a second, final compaction and some dry weather that this trail section too will firm up for nice riding. (It may be soft there today with all the rain over the last 24 hours.)

The earlier restored sections beyond Greenock, past Dravo Cemetery and on to Buena Vista were smooth and firm without that loose dust layer like the trail was before the sewer project began last fall. With a little time I expect these most recently completed sections will be similar.

Hello John Walker,

Thank you for your very nice commentary in the Cumberland Times-News today. A few friends sent it to me. I was married to Steve (and still am alive!!). Your comments were so nice, and greatly appreciated.

Mary Huebner

In the stretch between Ohiopyle and West Newton, I left my jacket at a bench where we stopped for lunch. It's a small red puffy jacket, Calvin Klein, that packs nicely into a matching red drawstring bag. It is very very dear to me, if you find it please grab it and text me at 510-388-7772, I will happily pay for shipping!