C&O / GAP Forum

I’m looking to either leave Vienna, va and do a round trip to Cumberland or get a ride to Cumberland and come downhill.
I’ve got a 26er mtn bike.
I’ll be tenting. 70 mile a day pace
Does anybody want to go with?

I’ll be leaving next Thursday or Friday. Staying in Hancock then onto Cumberland if you delay,

hi. We are planning on starting a Point State Park on Monday the 22nd. Any advice on drop off parking nearby?

Also thinking of taking the 3 rivers heritage trail and riding to the starting point.

Never been to Pittsburgh, so any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks!

Downtown parking is a function of how long you need to park. If you are literally just being dropped off without the need to park per se', you can likely do so on Commonwealth Place across from the Wyndham Grand Hotel at the entrance to Point State Park. If you need to park a little longer you can probably find paid meter parking on the Boulevard of the Allies also near the entrance to Point State Park. If you need to park for hours, there are a couple of parking garages on Ft. Duquesne Boulevard. See the satellite view of the area on Google Maps to get a better idea where these streets and garages are.

If you are staying in or around downtown Pittsburgh the night before departing on your trip, you can likely ride your bike to Point State Park without having to be dropped off e.g. along the Three Rivers Heritage Trail, Eliza Furnace Trail, or others. The website below provides a good map of those downtown trails.

https://friendsoftheriverfront.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/FotR_SouthSideMap.pdf

Since I live and ride along the GAP Trail to and around downtown Pittsburgh regularly, I'd be more than happy to meet you and guide you into, around and out of town. Pittsburgh can be a minor challenge to get around and out of town, but you'll find lots of riders along the trails that would be more than willing to provide assistance.

Lastly, if you truly want to start at the literal "Point" make sure you ride along the lower level pathway around the Point and its fountain and get a picture of the 4-ft diameter medallion embedded in the pathway that marks the convergence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers that form the Ohio River.

Feel free to ask any further questions about Pittsburgh or the trails that may arise.

thanks for the info. My sister will be dropping us off at or near the park. The first option across from the hotel sounds good.
Unfortunately, we won't be able to explore the city. We drive in, get dropped off and start around 11am.
We would like to see the actual start and take off from there.
If you are available between 11am and noon on 6/22 to guide us along, feel free to contact me at e m a i l = davedigi1 at gmail.

Thanks, Dave.

Rode between Whites Ferry (MM 35.5) and MM 46 this morning. The new surface is FANTASTIC!

Can’t wait to see it for myself later this month!

Yes, the new trail surface is great. I haven't been past whites ferry since they did the work but you can go from there north to shepherdstown on the new surface. For running I had started wearing trail running shoes that have channels and holes in the foot bed for water drainage since the section of trail I was running most regularly (brunswick to harpers ferry) was all puddles for much of 2018. It's totally transformed now. :)

Good morning all, hope my inquiry is in good order. We are planning a 100km ride from MM-0 to MM63 (Harpers Ferry) tomorrow morning 06/13/2020 6AM. I was looking for an update or info to confirm that all is good (conditions/road etc..). Weather is looking great and the surfaces should be dry after today.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated,

Ride strong.
-JP

We noticed that the footbridge is closed into Harpers Ferry. Our alternative is to be picked up at Huckleberry Hill Campsite, in close vicinity of MM-63..then drive back to Harpers Ferry Brewery for a 'cool-down'

Thoughts?

appreciated.

I’m not sure if Harpers Ferry to DC got rain last night but it was howling with rain and wind last night here is SW PA. The trail could be damp but should be fine as it’s been pretty rain free lately otherwise.

Huckleberry Hill looks to have a boat launch so cars can get to you.

If that can’t be arranged, I believe there are shuttles in association with the Appalachian Trail HQ in HF that could assist but might be a fee. I’d give them a call and tell them you have bikes.

John

Thank you Mr. John W.

Much appreciated!

Sure thing. Also, I just assume my legs and bike will get muddy on the C&O and just blast through any puddles. No sense fighting it. :) If I stay relatively mud free then it’s just a bonus. The C&O is notoriously wet with puddles (some parts not all) if it’s been raining, even days before. The tree canopy cover prevents the sun from drying it out like most of us would prefer. Good luck!

The Potomac is great for mud removal after a long days ride on the C&O!

The National Park Service website for the C&O Towpath has been recently updated to indicate that some of the toilets in the campgrounds and H/B campsites are starting to be reopened.

From https://www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit/conditions.htm

"Hiker-bike Campsites - open in Frederick, Washington, and Allegany Counties (Calico Rocks to Evitts Creek). Please bring your own water as pump handles will not be replaced and turned on at this time. Restrooms may be open and will be cleaned twice weekly. Please bring your own hand sanitizer, soap, and toilet paper as these items have been the subject of theft.

Restrooms, Vault Toilets, and Portable Toilets - beginning to open at campgrounds, boat ramps, and day use areas. Restrooms will be cleaned twice weekly. Please bring your own hand sanitizer, soap, and toilet paper as these items have been the subject of theft.

Water Fountains and Wells - closed."

Thanks for the update Rivnuts.

Yet another update regarding NPS's reopening of the C&O Towpath as of 6/10 below:


"Water Fountains and Wells - as of 6/10, well pumps are beginning to be opened. Well pumps in Frederick, Washington, and Allegheny Counties should be fully operational by 6/20."

Oh cool! Those water pumps come in handy.

Completed 6 day solo trip from DC to Pgh today. Great weather, great trail conditions. Hate the compacted gravel surface from Shepherdstown to Cumberland (snap-crackle-pop on my tires continuously) but the rest of the trail was great. Newly resurfaced between mile 30 and Shepherdstown to look like the crushed limestone on the GAP. Very smooth ride on that section. A few campers after Calico, but very few thru bikers on the trail. Most everyone wore masks until around Shepherdstown, then it tapered down to around 10%-20% with masks the rest of the way. No pump handles on anywhere, but port-o-potties were all open although there were signs on them up until Calico that they were out of service. The big hill between Cumberland and Savage tunnel nearly did me in but I survived. Stayed in hotels 5 nights. Being as old as I am, this was very tough for me, but the satisfaction of completing the entire C&O/GAP is very much worth the pain. Coming into Pgh on Saturday I saw a great many bikes fully loaded and headed east, so I think the long awaited rush might have started. PS, don't pay any attention to the hand written signs on the WMRT saying "trail closed ahead use C&O bypass". Signs were put up for emergency tree removal and never taken down. The C&O towpath bug is totally out of my system (for now).

Thanks for the trail status update. I’m itching to make the trip again, How did yo get to DC to begin your ride?

The trail from Shepherdstown to Cumberland is a a different surface than that before Shepherdstown? Mile marker zero all the way to Shepherstown is completely resurfaced? Are their plans to do 1-30? We are planning a ride in October.
Thanks
Jim

Hi Rivnuts. To get to DC I got a rental SUV from enterprise. Picked it up on sunday at noon (they close at 1:00pm sunday) took it home, loaded up my bike and supplies and drove to Rockville MD sunday evening. Stayed at a cheap hotel in Rockville sunday night so that I would only need to drive half an hour Monday morning. My original intention was to make the 4hr 30 minute drive early Monday morning and then go directly to drop off point, but my wife did not think it was a good idea to get up at 2:00am, drive to DC, then do 76 miles on a bike so I stayed the extra night in Rockville. Monday morning, drove about 25 minutes to the suv drop-off location in Rosslyn VA (1560 Wilson Blvd). That's a good place to drop off because they have a early-drop-off lock box and they are only 0.8 miles from the trail across the Francis Scott Key Bridge and another 1.0 miles back-tracking to Mile 0 on towpath. All downhill too. They were pretty cheap too. $57 for one day, unlimited mileage, plus $24 to fill the gas tank back up. My first day was 73 miles to Shepherdstown (Bavarian Inn) so I needed to get an early start. All went well, except 73 + 3 is a little too much for me at this stage.

Hi Jim. The towpath surface between mile 0 and mile 23 is the old original hard-packed dirt and stone that's been there forever. I rode it in a heavy, three day rain 4 years ago and it was totally covered with water, but was still relatively solid. I doubt they are planning to update this surface any time soon because of the deep historical feelings that would cause a lot of opposition.
From mile 23 to mile 30 the trail is not as solid (not resurfaced) and had a lot of puddles and some mud but I was able to easily ride around them. The weather for my trip was perfect. I did not see a drop of rain and did not clean my bike at all.
From mile 30 to mile 73 the towpath was resurfaced with crushed limestone and was in perfect condition. This type of surface will generally hold up well even in moderate rain. Very smooth riding on this section.
From mile 73 to mile 184 it's pretty much hit and miss with most of the towpath resurfaced (I would guess a few years ago) with a very coarse gravel that is compacted to form a somewhat solid surface but very noisy (snap-crackle-pop) and rough on your tires. I did not like this surface at all and always worried about getting a flat tire but never got one. It's definitely better than the mud that was once there but it needs to be upgraded to crushed limestone. Some areas here have the compacted stone upgrade but other areas are still basically unimproved dirt.
Other misc stuff: the Brunswick washout bypass at mile 55 was in good shape and water level was low so no problems here. There was a small washout at the slackwater concrete towpath (I think around mile 86??) that you need to walk your bike through. Inconvenient but doable. I used the WMRT path that runs parallel to the C&O for 10 mile east and 12 miles west of Hancock MD. This is an asphalt paved bikeway that is a welcome temporary relief from the rough C&O.

Thanks for filling me in!

Oh man Telo, your recap has me salivating to get out and do my trip to DC!

I think I’m shooting for late June now. Gonna do the GAP/C&O and get off at White’s Ferry and take the W&OD to DC. I always get on the WMRT when I see it...such a relief! I believe they have extended the WMRT a little so there’s a bit more asphalt. I’ll take Amtrak back to PGH.

Curious to see the improvements with the C&O surface as you’ve described.

Has anyone stayed in a hostel in DC? Or found reasonable hotel prices just outside DC but somewhat within reasonable distance of Mile 0? My trip is all camping except I was thinking of staying an extra day in DC and need reasonably priced accommodations. I want to cycle around DC a bit.

John

Thanks for the information. Now to sit down and really plan my Pgh to DC trip.

Hi John W.-- Stayed at the HI Washington DC Hostel last summer. About $35 per night. Bike storage out in the courtyard or inside a shed in the same courtyard. Clean and safe if you don't mind dormitory style.

Have also stayed at the Motel 6. About $90 per night. Not fancy but clean and safe.

Warren - Thanks for the hostel suggestion! I’ll definitely give it a look.

I haven’t travelled since the country went on Covid restrictions but I was just looking at the Arlington/National Airport area for hotels just to see prices. Some of the hotels I’m seeing are as low as $59-$63. Looks like they’ve lowered prices to entice reservations so I might go ahead and just reserve it. I was put off by the much higher prices I saw two years ago in DC as some were $175-$250 a night which is what initiated my hostel inquiry. Plus I’m camping the whole way except the end at DC so it not like one night at a hotel will blow up my budget :-) I’ll also look to see if other areas In DC have similar prices.

John

Telo:

Your one-way car rental was very competitive with Amtrak. I may have to consider that rather than kangaroo the train. Could likely drop it off at Reagan Airport as well. It's easy enough to get from the airport to the C&O albeit a lttle further away than Roslyn.

That new surface at Shepherdstown did not appear to be crushed limestone when I rode it last year as it appeared to be a black aggregate rather than white like limestone. Regardless, it had the same consistency and indeed was a much smoother surface.

Does anyone know what that actual material is if not limestone? (The anal ex-engineer in me would like to know. ??

Recycled grounded up road pavement with a binder.

Telo how did you handle water? My wife and I have a trip planned next week but the lack of water is among our concerns. Our current plan is to camel up in towns.

Took Amtrak from Cleveland. It was great! Roll-on bike service, but only on some trains. Doing it again this year in reverse. DC Amtrak home.

BobtheBuilder:

Depending on how/if the bike touring crowd returns to the GAP/C&O, bike reservations on the return train from DC are generally more difficult to get than for the trip to DC. You may want to book those early if you know your travel plans.

I could have gotten a seat on Amtrak no problem but the roll on roll off bike service was sold out leaving DC the day I wanted. So I flipped my directions and am taking the Capitol Limited from Pittsburgh to DC and was able to secure a roll on roll off reservation. Going to go the reverse direction I wanted but hey, life will be good out in the trail!

As Rivnuts suggested, don’t hesitate booking your Amtrak bike service if that is your plan, they’re selling out quickly.

John

Got out on the GAP from downtown PGH today and went through to Homestead and back. Lots of locals out on bikes, dogs walkers, roller blades, etc. and even saw a few with packed panniers heading to Cumberland!

Does anyone know why this 1.1 mile section at the Waterfront is gravel when all the areas surrounding it on both ends are paved? It’s a fine surface just wondering why more than anything. Any plans to pave it?

John

I ride through the Waterfront nearly every day since I live in Homestead/Munhall. That segment of the Steel Valley Trail portion of the GAP has been that way since original and formal trail was completed. It can be very soft with puddles after it rains. On nice weekends like today it is a very crowded path and arguably dangerous with walkers, goat watchers, dogs, kids and Lance Armstrongs that want to ride 20 mph through there even with the pedestrians there.

I think it's actually safer to just stay on the road through the Waterfront or, better yet, ride the service road through the nearly empty parking lots and behind the businesses.

As for plans to pave that section, I'll ask members of the Steel Valley Trail Council the next time I see them working on the trail.

PS: The Pumphouse parking lot was reopened today after having been closed for several months. The restrooms at the Pumphose remained closed at this time.

I ride through the Waterfront nearly every day since I live in Homestead/Munhall. That segment of the Steel Valley Trail portion of the GAP has been that way since original and formal trail was completed. It can be very soft with puddles after it rains. On nice weekends like today it is a very crowded path and arguably dangerous with walkers, goat watchers, dogs, kids and Lance Armstrongs that want to ride 20 mph through there even with the pedestrians there.

I think it's actually safer to just stay on the road through the Waterfront or, better yet, ride the service road through the nearly empty parking lots and behind the businesses.

As for plans to pave that section, I'll ask members of the Steel Valley Trail Council the next time I see them working on the trail.

PS: The Pumphouse parking lot was reopened today after having been closed for several months. The restrooms at the Pumphose remained closed at this time.