C&O / GAP Forum

I am trying to decide if I need one of the tour companies help set up the bike trip from Pittsburgh to Washington. They all charge about the same, about $250 per day for two people which just includes the itinerary and lodging (no bike rental, luggage transfer, etc). We are looking at a leisurely 8 day trip giving us plenty of time for sight seeing so it would cost about $2,000. A typical b&b along the trail seems to be about $125 per day which is $1,000. I am not sure what service I am getting for the extra $1,000 over me just booking the rooms myself. What am I missing here? Is there a good reason to go through a tour company?

Everything you need to plan your trip can be found on this sight. Ive done five complete Pgh. to DC rides and found everything I needed here.

I had the same reaction and saw no value in having someone else just book lodging and give me a map. This and other websites are free and have so much information on what to see and where you can stay. The guide book was about $15 and the latest edition is updated and even more thorough than earlier versions. Start with the guidebook and you’ll be able to choose your own itinerary. Even if you have them do it for you, you’d want to check it all out to make sure it is what you really want. It was easy to make online, easily refundable reservations for almost every night that I’ve changed over the course of planning and can even change while on the trail. We leave in a week and I feel more confident having made the arrangements myself.

It isn't difficult at all to put together a trip. Plus for me that is part of the fun. Need to give yourself a bit of slack in case of really bad weather. I'd make all of the reservations myself and save the bucks. Plan early some sites sell out fast depending on the time of the year. I've done 5 Passage thru rides and 2 Passage/C&O thru's.

We booked all of our rooms in a combination of Air BnB's, Motels, and B&Bs for an 8-day, 7-night trip. Total cost for lodging is $625. I'll post after the ride (6/21 to 6/28).

Question from a "lurker" - Hello friends of the C&O.. A quick question for you. I have been "lurking" on this site for a few years, and I am about to retire. I am considering starting a charter service to provide shuttles between DC and Pittsburg and various spots on the C&O/GAP. Is there any interest out there for such a service? I can currently handle at 2-3 bikes, Passangers, and some gear.

Be aware that with the roll-on bike service many people will be using that option. From Dc to Pittsburg I paid $61. $41 for passenger and $20 for bike. The rate would adjust according to where you board train. Also, in my opinion you should provide the option to carry up to 6 bikes. While there are plenty of solo and couples riding there are even more who travel in groups of 4-6. There is a need for shuttle services no doubt.

Gary- After just having done the trip one way I really see the need for shuttle service. My daughter and son in law paid big bucks to have their bikes shipped. Arranging the hotel etc is fine but not that hard. Getting the bikes in the right place at the right time is the logistical problem for most people. I'd say go for it.

Thanks for the feedback. I am aware of the Roll on/Roll off service from Amtrack, but I have not yet used it. If I make the plunge I will be buying a truck that will be able to handle 4-5 folks.

Gary, the roll on service was very user friendly. We parked at Great Falls and rode to mile 0 then appx 3 miles along National Mall. total of 17 miles. I've used shuttles services for several years and have had good success with them. As I mentioned there are just as many solo people as those who travel with 3 or more. 1 thing I haven't seen yet it the capacity to carry bikes with Fat Tires...I love to bring mine. If you provide a good service people will use and reuse it.

Gary I have been hauling people and gear between Pittsburgh and DC for a while now and I can say there is only a small percentage of people that are willing to pay what you need to cover your Livery Insurance - last year I didn't cover it. Which is why the companies are charging $250/day for support services.

Train is $44 -$50 cumberland to Pittsburgh.
Round trip driving is about 1 tank of gas when your loaded with bikes = $65 in gas plus wear and tear on vehicle plus the liability. DC is 10 hours round trip and rush hour sucks.

I think there would be more money in a Hostel in Pittsburgh and in DC. In fact I'm considering putting one in Pittsburgh.

I will be leaving this Friday June 23 with 4 other people to bike from Ohiopyle to Washington DC on the GAP and C&O. Should we be concerned with recent rain for the C&O? I heard it gets muddy, is there an alternate route to D.C just in case? Will the Paw Paw tunnel closure be very difficult detour? I also think it might rain the 23 and 24 when we leave.

If the weather is nice and sunny but it rained a couple of days ago, expect puddles and mud on the C&O. I always ride the C&O with the expectation of getting wet and muddy. Once you except this fact and just plow through the puddles, you will enjoy the trip that much more. Trying to avoid it is hard because it's so long and there are so many puddles if it's wet. The C&O takes a long time to drain as it's, for the most part, covered by tree canopy so the sun doesn't dry it out. Most hotels have hoses to wash your bikes down. The GAP drains much better (it's crushed limestone rail-trail). You'll get a little gritty but nothing like the C&O when it's wet. Just make sure your valuables and camp clothes are wrapped in plastic to stay dry. Look at it as an adventure! :-)

I will be camping all 5 days this Friday to Tuesday, using the hiker/biker campsites. How is the crime in Maryland part of trail? Stuff get stolen? Homeless people? Also wondering how bad are Ticks?

Worry not on the C&O, I've never seen any homeless or crime. The hiker/biker sites (with a couple of exceptions that have car parking) are really remote and you have to walk or bike to get to them. I've always felt safe on the trail. I have no idea about ticks. You are in a woodsy, wet Canal area so take precaution as if you were on a hike in the woods. But I've never gotten any.

I made two videos of the GAP and now I have completed the Mickelson Trail in South Dakota in case anyone wants to watch it here is the link. https://youtu.be/k86tdY_sMR8 for YouTube. Thanks

Great video! It can be hard waiting out the rain, but you know the blue skies will eventually come.

I hope you don't mind, I added this to the forum for the Mickelson Trail website that I recently launched:

Mickelson Trail Discussion Forum

I don't mind at all! I am so glad you like the video. I will check out the forum, I did not know that there was one. Thanks :)

Great video!

I see on my C&O map roads that one could take as an alternative to the tunnel hill trail. Hiway 51 and something called Oldtown Orleans roads. Any thoughts on these roads?? Are they an option or big steep mountain roads that are not bicycle friendly?? I would rather ride on a road than hike-a-bike over a mountain hiking trail. Thanks for the thoughts, my trip, west to east begins June 26.

I think I answered my own question. Left turn on Oldtown Road SE just past Paw Paw, on to David Thomas Road/Orleans road on into Little Orleans. About 13.5 miles, with a bit of climbing, but , no hike-a-bike. Sorry I miss the Tunnel but oh well, an excuse to come back someday.

The detour is a pain, but it didn't take more than an hour and that was pushing our loaded tandem bike. Riding hilly roads for 13 miles just doesn't seem worth it! The view is nice near the top of the hill and there are places to sit and picnic and also interpretive signs along part of the detour. We did it on the way from Cumberland to Hancock, our longest day as it is for most, and it wasn't that big of a deal.

Thanks!

Not a B&B. Poor value for the money. Breakfast is just a banana and some grocery store muffins and granola bars. Porch lights shine through the blinds so you can't get the room dark at night. It's a $60 room for $100.

To shuttle around the Paw Paw Tunnel closure, call Wrenwood Inn for details. We shuttle from Paw Paw to either Bond's Landing or Little Orleans and vice versa. Call 304-947-5983

Biked from confluence, pa to Orleans on June 7, second day of a four day ride. We just put in well over 105 miles and found Bill's closed. Now this isn't Bill's fault because he determines his days off but someone should friggin mention it in one of the tour maps/guide books, etc. or even mentioned it in one of the many videos we watched! Thank God for the Town Hill B&B for coming down to rescue us and hold some food for our dinner. That place and its people running it are amazing. The NPS should be ashamed of itself for not putting out more proper signage along this route. We rode a mile past Little Orleans before we realized it. And don't get me started on the DETOUR around Paw Paw. Just one word...UNACCEPTABLE.

How frequent are the mile markers on the trail? Every mile? Randomly separated?

We just returned from the trek and I had the same opinion. Fortunately Bill's was open so we had ice cream and soda. I think there may have been drinking water at the park where you make the turn off (which we almost missed!). We had considered stopping in Paw Paw to eat on our way to Hancock, but didn't want to add miles to a 60 mile + uphill detour day. The newest edition of the book is better, but i still would have appreciated tips on exactly where to turn off and what to look for and hills, etc for towns. We almost went past Bill's but fortunately saw someone to ask. It's out of the Fifteenmile Creek park on the canal. But I'd never seen that even mentioned. Love this forum to help each other!

The mile markers on the parts of the C&O and GAP that I've traveled are every mile.

The Park service has nothing to do with commercial establishments. You should do more homework. As to mile markers some are hidden, but any bike computer will give you she same info. Oh yes, the closure is to make the path safe. Big Slack water detour lasted for years, and it sucked.

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My wife and I are planning on taking a leisurely trip from Pittsburg to Washington DC over eight days. This leads us a lot of time to stop along the way. Are there things to do in the little towns along the way or are they really just places to eat and lodge? I understand the weather is real bad right now. We are going in three weeks. Thanks in advance.

http://www.laurelhighlands.org/events/detail/14th-annual-braddocks-crossing-of-the-yough/20182/

We're starting our leisurely 8 day trip on Monday the 5th starting in McKeesport. I'll report how it goes. Start by looking at the 2017 guide book (more detailed than earlier ones!)and websites like this. I found a reason for us to stop and look or eat every 10 miles on the trail if we choose. About every 2 hours we should be near a place we want to spend a little more time (waterfall, visitor center, George Washington slept here.....) We're planning about 4 pedaling hours a day with only a couple over or below that. Credit card trip so we can easily modify our reservations if we decide to speed up or slow down or it rains too much. Years ago we were in Connellsville for the event on that link in the other post. It was great!

We just completed a wonderful tandem trip in 8 days and it was a good pace that gave us a little time to explore. There are a lot of long, long stretches of the trial where there is nothing more than beautiful scenery. We also had a couple cold rainy days at the beginning that slowed our progress, and also did the Paw Paw detour, which kept us from attempting some side trips. A lot of the places highlighted on the guide maps are just an interpretive sign and maybe an outhouse so a good place to stop and stretch, but not much more. Also, many of the visitor centers and small museums have very limited hours. Even Great Falls Tavern is closed Mon and Tues. (the snack bar is fortunately open).
Here are places we did some sightseeing. Past West Newton is Cedar Creek Park. This is a nice park with lots of little scenic trails and we were told there was a swinging bridge.
Perryopolis supposedly has George Washington’s Grist Mill, but I couldn’t find much on it and it’s up a big big hill and we didn’t even see where to leave the trail to get there…
Connellsville has a nice visitor center and little museums (with limited hours )
Ohiopyle has a lot of great little trails. We’ve been there often and it would be fun to do a rafting trip or take a tour of Falling Water if you stay there.
The Meyersdale Visitor Center has train and local info and is definitely worth spending time to see (it was cold and rainy so made a nice comfort stop too).
Frostburg is just up a hill from the trail and seems to have sights, but we didn’t have time.
Cumberland has a lot to see. Unfortunately, the NPS Visitor Center closed early the day we arrived in the rain! Very nice downtown area to walk around.
Hancock was a great little town to walk around. Visit the Bowles House on the trail and get a tour.
Fort Frederick has a lot to see and we spent a couple hours or so there(if you go on the WMRT, be sure to get back on the C&O a mile before it ends or you end up taking a steep hill on a road. There’s a sign we should have actually read!).
The Williamsport NPS center is very small but a very pretty place. Boat rides at 11 and 2.
Sharpsburg is a steep walk up and a bit confusing to get to Burnside Bridge. But it was impressive and worth it in the end. There’s a map in the guidebook if you want to do a big tour and stay there or nearby. We found beautiful Antietem Creek Winery (open on weekends) and were rewarded before going back down.
There is so much to do in Harpers Ferry. It was packed in the afternoon but the early morning was nice. There are lots of plaques with history so you can even spend hours walking the lovely old town after all of the NPS exhibit buildings are closed. Just not much fun lugging a tandem bike up the stairs of the bridge!
Brunswick has a tiny museum with limited hours across from Beans in the Belfrey Coffee Shpo.
The Great Falls Visitor Center was closed, but worth seeing I’m sure. Georgetown’s canal is all under construction so there’s nothing there. But we stayed at The Georgetown House on the canal and walked to Dumbarton Oaks Museum, Dumbarton House, The Rock House, and the very interesting Tudor House and Gardens.
We rode carefully around the Mall when we arrived, but left DC for another trip.

Hi all, i'm planning a bike and camping trip from Cumberland to DC. Can you provide me with info about safety at the camp grounds (esp if you are female traveling alone)? Thx

I did a day trip last weekend between Seneca and White's Ferry. I stopped at the campground just south of Edward's Ferry. Since there are no services nearby, you wouldn't think it would be popular, but there were six tents there on a Saturday morning. Two women riding together. Men riding together. Couples. So it would be safe. Probably the smart thing to do would be to start to look for a campground early and to keep riding until you found one with enough campers to make you feel comfortable. And it would also be good to have motels and inns in mind in case you didn't find a place where you felt comfortable. There were lots of people on the towpath though and opportunities to talk to other bikers and learn their plans for the night.

Me and my workmate did a GAP and C&O on Jun 3rd to 8th. It was a great and fun ride, we camped and hosteled. The Bummer is PAW PAW tunnel closure. It is a tough uphill detour from West to East and it is very very tough from East to West. So plan well. Other options, Check Shuttle services (for East to West).

I forgot to mention that, they Closed the PAW PAW tunnel as of Jun 2nd. It could take 2-3 months to reopen.

I am assuming yo went West to East. How long did the Paw Paw detour take you? Is it true you walk the bikes the whole detour?

You mentioned a shuttle. Does anyone know of a shuttle service to bypass the mountainous detour?

Yes, We biked from Pitt to DC. 100% we walked our bike on the uphill and 30% of the downhill I walked as it is so deep and leafy and with all my camping gears and 2 panniers, I don't want to end up falling down to the Paw Paw hills.
I don't know who are the shuttle companies @ paw paw, but we met guys @ Little Orleans who used shuttle services for the detour.

What was the name of the shuttle service in Little Orleans for the PawPaw detour? We are going from Cumberland to DC in next week and if it's an up hill detour we would probably use shuttle. Thanks

We made our reservation for the shuttle through the folks at the Wrenwood Inn in Paw Paw. The number there is 304*947*5983. We just made a reservation going west to east.

We did the Paw Paw detour with a loaded tandem. Of course it's the longest day most people ride already! Yes, you have to push it uphill going East, but you can ride down part of the way. The opposite way you may have to walk a bit going up up up and then walk all the way down the switchbacks. But I don't know that a shuttle would save much time? We didn't see any signs of shuttles or hear of anyone getting a shuttle last week. The detour did prevent us from adding the mileage to have a bite to eat in Paw Paw.

We are flying into Pittsburg 11:20 am. We have someone meeting us at the airport and dropping us off with our rental bikes at mile zero in Pittsburg. I figure we should be on the bikes by 1:30 pm. We couldn't get a place in West Newton so we are riding to Perryopolis (48 miles to our lodging). Hopefully, this is doable before it gets dark. I figure it gets dark about 8:30 pm so we have 7 hours to do our first day. Hopefully, the plane won't be late. I have never ridden on anything except pavement so, I am a little nervous. Can anybody give me a perspective on how much difference in speed the crushed gravel makes versus the road on the same type of bicycle? That is, how fast do you normally ride on the street compared to how fast you ride this part of the trail? Thanks in advance.

My wife and I got to Perryopolis in a day. We stayed at The Inn at Lenoras because it was close to the trail and it was a good choice. Would stay there again. It is a long climb up to the town but not to bad. Just something I'd rather not do at the end of the day. The biggest headache was navigating out of Pittsburg. The trail is marked but while your watching the sights and wayward cars you might miss a turn. The paving is solid and hard packed for all of the GAP trail. I would recommend cross tires about 30mm with some nubs on them. The more you go for mountain bike style tires the slower you'll go. You should average about 10 miles an hour and that's conservative. The turnoff isn't clearly marked for Perryopolis so watch for the bridge overpass and soon after that is the turn. Figure everything that could go wrong. You may be cutting it close but it is doable.

The turn off is hard to find, but Whitsett is right before it and you'll see the signs for that. It was pouring rain and muddy for that part of the trip on our first day last week which slowed us down a lot. We started in McKeesport and went to Connellsville, which is about the same distance you'd do. Be sure to stop at the Trailside in West Newton to eat!

How far is it from Harpers Ferry to Brunswick and back? What is a reasonable hiking distance per day on the canal for a non-hiker?

oops see comment above. I just spent 4 hours cutting overgrown grass and I am spent. I could do a 5 hour hike though.

Brunswick is right on the path and it was a quick little hill to the best coffee and pie on the entire trail. Beans in the Belfry was a great spot to have a bite. Very popular with cyclists. The visitor center rail museum across has very limited hours and was closed, of course. But we were glad we stopped to listen to jazz and have a bite.

Is there a typical rain pattern in Cumberland, MD? For instance, in Tampa, FL during the summer it is clear, hot and sunny until about 3 pm and then storms for about an hour and then stops. You can set your clock by it. I am wondering when I see rain in the forecast, does it generally rain all day long? Or is there no specific pattern at all. I am prepared to ride in the rain but I would prefer not to. We are riding Pitt to DC starting June 21.

In the summer, rain usually is in the form of thunderstorms, usually in late afternoon. More like 5:00 or 6:00 than 3:00. You don't want to ride through them however because they will have lightening, which is dangerous. But we can also have weather patterns that bring in rain for a day or two. Those won't have lightening. Ten day forecasts specify the chances of rain and whether it will be in the form of a thunderstorm.

I lost my keys on the tow path...started out at lock 38 then went towards shepherdstown on the trail.....anybody know whp I can call or did anyone find any keys?