C&O / GAP Forum

Hi Everyone,
Back with a new question.
Would it be possible to hammock camp the C&O and GAP trails??
Starting around September 12th from Washington D.C.going all the way to Pittsburg .
I plan on camping the whole way with one or 2 hotel stays and as usual thanks for your time and help.

There are opportunities to rig your hammock in many of the camp sites along the GAP and C&O especially if you are flexible where you stay and how you rig it. Along the GAP most of the campsites have first-come first-serve Adirondack shelters or pavilions in which you can rig your hammock even if well-spaced trees are not present. This is not the case at the C&O hiker/biker (H/B) websites.

Well-spaced trees are not universally present in all the C&O hiker/biker (H/B) campsites within, say, 30 yards of the picnic tables and fire rings. However, the wooded areas typically surrounding the mown campsite areas would often offer places to rig your hammock. You may need to be flexible about which H/B campsite you stay at in order to use your hammock. The good news is that the sites are fairly close together to provide real-time options about where you stop as long as you plan to have enough daylight to do so.

I'm leaving on 9/12 for DC from Pittsburgh. Perhaps we'll cross paths along the way.

Thank you and hope to meet you.
Going to be staying at the Fairfield Inn downtown Pittsburg then on to Washington D.C.on Amtrak.

Hey Rivnuts - I'm leaving PGH on September 11. Look for a yellow monkey on my handlebar bag, my navigator.

Safe travels.

Gypsea:

I'll keep my eyes open for that monkey! How many days are you planning to make the ride?

Planning 1st time solo bike-packing trip Georgetown to Cumberland, camping the first 2 nights. I aim to bike 50 - 70 miles per day. Won't know exactly which Hiker-Biker campsite I'll use - depends on how far I get each day. What are the chances of encountering campsites that are full? (I assume it depends on the time of afternoon / evening I arrive). Thanks!

“Full” is difficult to define in the H/B camping sites since there are no defined or controlled number of campsites in them. It’s more a matter of how close to other tents you are comfortable with or how close to the picnic table and fire ring you want to be.

All that said, it’s rare that there are more than 3 or 4 campers at a single site other than those closest to DC. If you are riding 50-70 miles each day, you shouldn’t be stopping at those.

Thanks so much for that answer!
What are the options for charging electrical devices (cell phone, etc.)?

There are no electrical services/receptacles in the C&O hiker/biker camp sites. You’ll need to seek out businesses or commercial/municipal locations in the trail side towns to charge any devices.

After trekking the Paw Paw detour and setting up camp, this was a welcome stop the next morning to refill water bottles, buy some cold water and gatorades, and replenish food. Very friendly and HELPFUL staff. 10/10

What can I expect for traffic and weather on the GAP and C&O trails over Labor Day weekend?

As you know, there is no car/motorized vehicle traffic on these trails other than a few blocks exiting Pittsburgh and leavin McKeesport. There will be a fair amount of walkers and cyclists near Pittsburg and DC but not to the extent of presenting any danger or delay in your progress.

It’s too early to make a believable forecast of the weather for that weekend. But, for what it’s worth, the current long range forecast for Pittsburgh for Friday 9/1 is for partly cloudy skies with a daily high of 77 and a nighttime low of 58F. You can check those daily forecasts as you get closure to that time.

Looking for suggestions to park my vehicle near the finish of the GAP. we are riding the east to west route and want some input for parking (6 days)

The question of parking in Pittsburgh while riding is a much-travelled question on this forum. Upon searching this forum, you'll find several posts responding to this question.

If proximity to the actual terminus of the GAP Trail in Point State Park in Pittsburgh, you'll find numerous indoor parking garages by Googling "Pittsburgh Parking Garages" or Parkopedia.com. However, these won't be cheap as daily rates are typically $20 a day or more.

There are some less expensive outdoor lots across the rivers from the terminus such as Highmark Stadium that have lower rates and are rideable from downtown via bridge sidewalks.

Free parking is not readily available downtown or is less safe from theft or damage. A couple of free parking options along the trail or its alternate including the South Side Riverfront Park about 3 miles from the terminus or at the Waterfront Shopping Center in Homestead about 10 miles from the terminus. Both have ample parking area and a fair amount of daytime pedestrian traffic for some level of security. Given you'll be gone several days, I believe the Waterfront Shopping Center would be better as it has a number of major stores therein with lighting in their parking areas,

Other Pittsburgh locals may have some other thoughts.

If you stay at a hotel at the beginning and at the end of your trip, they might let you park there for free.

Downtown Pittsburg
Grant Street Transportation. Center
55 11th Street
That's where I am parking give it a try

From the Gap Trail website:

“Crews deployed by Somerset County will resurface about 24 miles of the Great Allegheny Passage from Meyersdale (mile marker 31.9) and extending westward to approximately mile marker 56, starting August 28. The GAP will remain open during this project, which is expected to last about four weeks. Please be cautious and watch for construction vehicles and contractors. Note that parking lots from Meyersdale to Fort Hill may be used as staging areas for equipment and fresh limestone, and may offer fewer spots than are normally available.”

Thanks for that update

Are there retailers on/near the trail that sells C&O/GAP merch?

Thanks!

Great question. As you probably have found, there are on-line stores that offer the traditional or similar GAP and C&O Trail jerseys. Those are at:

gaptrailstore.org
aerotechdesigns.com
rtmerc.com
floravelo.com

Of course these are not brink and mortar retail stores along the GAP/C&O Trail.

By "retailers" I presume you mean walk-in stores. That said, there are many candidates none of which I've gone into specifically looking for those jerseys and thus don't have any confirmed locations. Candidates would include sport stores, bike shops and visitor centers along the way. I can think of the following in that sense and their locations are as follows:

REI - Pittsburgh's South Side
Dick's Sporting Goods - Homestead, PA
Visitor Center - West Newton, PA
West Newton Bicycle Shop - West Newton, PA
Bikes Unlimited - Connellsville, PA
Visitor Center, Meyersdale, PA
Wheelzup at Canal Place - Cumberland, MD
C&O Bicycle - Hancock MD

I'll check out the ones between Pgh and West Newton over the next several days and let you know if I find them. I can check out the others when I pass them when I ride all the way to DC in September.

I saw the traditional GAP Trail jerseys on sale at the Golden Triangle bike rental station along the trail today. You can Google it’s exact location in doentown Pgh.

GAP Trail jerseys were for sale in the West Newton visitor center in the restored train station immediately adjacent the trail. They had various sizes and different years/graphics for sale.

They told me that these jerseys were also available at the bike shop in Confluence, PA as well as Golden Triangle Bikes in Pittsburgh.

GAP Trail jerseys, T shirts and other merch were for sale in the West Newton visitor center in the restored train station immediately adjacent the trail. They had various sizes of jerseys and different years/graphics for sale. They people working there said they were the sponsor of GAPTrail.org and the various associated merchandise.

They told me that these jerseys were also available at the bike shop in Confluence, PA as well as Golden Triangle Bikes in Pittsburgh.

From the GAP website.

Officials at Ohiopyle State Park have opened a new bicyclist-focused, fee-based primitive campground at mile marker 72.6 along the Great Allegheny Passage. Dubbed High Bridge Biking Campsites, this new overnight spot for bikepackers includes five tent sites (each with a picnic table), and a centrally-located composting toilet. The site is inaccessible by motorized vehicles and no campfires are allowed. No sinks, showers, or water are available, but users can fill up water bottles at the renovated former train station a few hundred yards away, across the Ohiopyle Low and High Bridges and Ferncliff Peninsula. Pets are welcome as per park policy.
“This new campground is set apart for bicyclists, and will allow thru-riders on the Great Allegheny Passage to make camp inside Ohiopyle State Park without walking their bikes up to Kentuck Campground, which was designed for car camping and backpackers when trains were still running through the park,” says Ken Bisbee, Park Operations Manager. “We’re very thankful to private donors who have underwritten and supported this project for many years.” Bisbee notes that park staff will install a Dero Bike Fix-It Station shortly.
Advance reservations are required, and are limited to one night only for parties of up to five people. Each of the five sites are $4 per person per night for Pennsylvania residents or $5 per person per night for out-of-staters. Reserve your spot by logging in at the Pennsylvania state park website, pull up Ohiopyle State Park and then “Backpacking and River Camping,” click on “Bike-In Camping Permit,” then pick your date and site, and finally click “I am an Experienced Backpacker or River Camper!” to secure and pay in advance for your site. If you need help or have questions, call the park office at 724-329-8591.

Great news! Sounds like the facilities are pretty nice.

Thanks for the info!!

Hello again just wanted to let everyone know that have been so kind to me to reply to my posts that I finally made all my reservation for my trip .

Got a room at the Fairfield Inn downtown Pittsburg for 9/11 blocks from the Grant Street Center to park my car and blocks from Amtrak to go to Washington D.C on the 12th for the start of my tour.hope to see anyone else out there and enjoy this tour.
P.S. have decided to take my tent and be safe about camping instead of my hammock.

Michael

Hi everyone,
Getting ready for my C&O and GAP bike tour will be driving down to Pittsburg park my car take Amtrak to Washington D.C. Train is supposed to come in around 1-2 P.M. where is there the first campsite? Is it doable ?
Decent lodging which will take in me and my bike?
Be getting in on September 12 .

Any help will be much appreciated and thank you very much for your time.

Michael

Below are the first few hiker/biker (H/B) campsites on the C&O leaving DC are as follows with mileages from DC:

16.6 Swain's Lock #21 Five Campsites - nearby vehicle access. Newly restored lockhouse is now available for lodging with full amenities.
26.0 Horsepen Branch H/B Hiker/Biker campsite. 1.2 miles from vehicle access at mile 27.2.
30.5 Chisel Branch H/B Hiker/Biker campsite. 0.3 miles from vehicle access at mile 30.8
34.5 Turtle Run H/B Hiker/Biker campsite. 1.0 miles from vehicle access at mile 35.5
38.2 Marble Quarry H/B Hiker/Biker Campsite. 1.4 miles from vehicle access at mile 39.6
42.4 Indian Flats H/B Hiker/Biker campsite. 0.3 miles from vehicle access at mile 42.1
47.6 Calico Rocks H/B Hiker/Biker campsite. 0.8 miles from vehicle access at mile 48.2. Located near a busy railroad line, so earplugs are suggested.
50.3 Bald Eagle Island H/B Hiker/Biker campsite. 0.5 miles from vehicle access at mile 50.8. Located near a busy railroad line, so earplugs are suggested.

The first hotel off the trail is in Brunswick 54 miles from DC. Reaching there before sunset is unlikely especially since the first 3 or 4 miles leaving DC are a little slow as you ride through the city. You could consider staying in a DC hotel or AirBnB the night of your arrival and start fresh down the trail the next morning.

Thank you for your reply and help.
Any hotels you could recommend in DC?

As a suburban Pittsburgh resident, I'm not knowledgeable enough to recommend a particular hotel in DC. I'll leave that to someone with better knowledge of DC and its hotels. All the travel reservation websites show the hotels in the area and in route to the C&O trail in Georgetown. I confess to being cheap, so I spent my one-night layover after arriving by train in DC this spring in an Airbnb room located is in northeast DC. There are many of those listed in the Airbnb website.

If you are a Warm Showers users, that may be an option for you as well.

I'm sorry I can't be more helpful but not living in DC limits my knowledge to make specific recommendations. Hopefully others on this forum will reply to your question.

Looking for lodging in Little Orleans?

The Town Hill B&B in Little Orleans may be what you are looking for. You can find information on it by going to its website. It is a bit off the trail itself and uphill at that but they offer to shuttle you and your bikes up the hill and down if you don't want to coast back down the next morning.

I stayed there a few years ago and had a nice stay.

A large rock slide occurred Sunday at MM 136.8. The trail is completely blocked with large rocks, debris and fallen trees. I expect it will take some time to clear this area for the trail to be clear. Efforts to clear the trail will likely require some time and may render the trail impassable during that time. Watch the GAP website for more information.

Thank you for the information!!

The local trail council volunteers cleared a portion of the blockage last evening to provide a narrow riding path around the debris to enable riders to get through. Big thanks to them for their prompt efforts to reopen the trail to riders. A lot of work still remains to completely remove all the remaining material on the trail but it is open to bike traffic at this time.

Although much of the rocky rubble remains, the local trail council has cleared enough to reestablish two-way traffic on the trail at that location.

Will be doing the GAP Cum-Pit in a few days and have some time after getting to Pit before catching the N bound train. Would like to walk about the area and was wondering if anyone has any experience (or advice) on locking my bike near (or at) the Pit Amtrak station. Seems the Pit garages - and there's one nearby - have bike racks - just not sure of the safety. Thanks in advance for any tips.

The Pgh Amtrak station is tucked in off the street (Liberty Avenue) with not much pedestrian traffic other tha train riders. So, locking a bike up there is not the worst option to avert theft. Perhaps a better/safer option might be to lock the bike up at one of the nearby hotels assuming they had a bike rack in front of them. I’ll try to ride through that area of town tomorrow and see if there my be better options. I’ll let you know.

If you are departing Pgh by train, you might even be able to look/leave you bike inside the train station itself if you speak to the agents there.

I’d be hesitant to leave my bike in one of the parking garages.

The Pgh Amtrak station is tucked in off the street (Liberty Avenue) with not much pedestrian traffic other tha train riders. So, locking a bike up there is not the worst option to avert theft. Perhaps a better/safer option might be to lock the bike up at one of the nearby hotels assuming they had a bike rack in front of them. I’ll try to ride through that area of town tomorrow and see if there my be better options. I’ll let you know.

If you are departing Pgh by train, you might even be able to look/leave you bike inside the train station itself if you speak to the agents there.

I’d be hesitant to leave my bike in one of the parking garages.

So, I rode into Pgh today in and around the area of the Amtrak Station looking for potential places to lock up your bike for a few hours after arriving in Pgh and before taking the train northward.

First, the thought of parking your bike inside the Amtrak station isn't feasible as the waiting area at the station is only open from 6:00pm until 7:45am. So if you arrive before 6:00pm the station is not open. That said, there is a bike rack in the parking area just beyond the waiting area entry door. It is under roof so not susceptible to rain. There is little, if any, pedestrian traffic there albeit some construction workmen nearby. There was a bike locked there today.

Another option would be to lock your bike up on the south side of Penn Avenue west of Tenth Street. (See Google Maps of downtown Pgh area.) There are several outdoor restaurants and bars along the street in that area where you can lock your bike with a fair amount of people dining there.

Of the hotel entrances, there is a place to lock a bike near the entry to the AC Hotel by Mariott on Smallman Street just a couple of blocks from the train station.

Assuming you remove your bags with their contents from the bike, I think the first two options above are your best bets for leaving your bike for a few daylight hours.

Perhaps other forum lurkers familiar with the downtown area will have some other suggestions.

my son and i have done the GAP, we now want to do the C&O looking to do it mid OCT,what kind of weather should we expect ??

According to historical climatological data provided at weatherspark.com, the "average" daily temperature in Cumberland MD (the northernmost end of the C&O) ranges from 70 to 50F at the start of October to 60 to 40F at the end of October. Less probable extreme temperatures range from 80 to 40F at the start of the month to 73 to 28F at the end of the month. These temperatures generally increase a few degrees as you proceed toward Washington DC. As you can see, the temperatures you may encounter vary broadly both by time of the month and statistical probability.

The daily chance of rain ranges from 20 to 25% which is generally the lowest of all non-winter months.

I would plan to travel as early in October as you can. As I prefer to make the trip and will do so this year in mid to late September, I made the trip the third week of October last year and awoke in my tent to temperatures just above freezing on a couple of mornings. Such a wide variability can cause you to have to carry a broad range of clothing for all possible conditions. i recommend you watch the weather forecasts along the C&O as your departure date approaches to reduce the range of conditions you will expect during your specific trip and, hence, the amount of gear you carry.

Note the amount of daylight hours is 11.1 hours in October if you are planning to ride long miles each day.

From the GAP website:

Crews deployed by the staff at Canal Place in Cumberland will close the small trestle bridge and walkway that crosses a basin between the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal Towpath, starting July 31 for approximately one month, in order to perform repairs. This short detour adjacent to the project will be put in place for the duration of the work; please dismount and walk your bikes along the posted detour as a courtesy. Neither the GAP nor the C&O Canal Towpath will be closed.

At the same time the bridge repair is going on, crews will be making repairs to the brick walkways and parking lots in front of the restored Western Maryland Railway station which houses the Cumberland Visitor Center. Active work zones will be cordoned off for everyone’s safety. Please proceed with caution.

looking to go on my first overnight bike trip (going solo). Thinking about going to Harpers Ferry and spending the night in hotel then back to staring point. I will need to leave car at starting point any suggestions where should start from?

Williamsport

Thank you

Given that White's Ferry is indefinitely closed (and has been), this lodging option in Leesburg doesn't make sense as a recommendation anymore :-/

Seven GAP/CO riders are looking for a lodging venue between Harper's Ferry and end of the Trail in DC. Non-operational White's Ferry lets out Leesburg for the night. We have not found anything on the MD side somewhere near the Poolesville area...
Has anyone found a place to stay in that area, or should we just expect a 55+ mi ride on last day? Thanks for any comments or clues! We have talked about possibility of staying at Lockhouse 25, but really want showers, heat and a flush toilet! Asking too much??

I haven't done any searching myself so don't know if you'll find anything but have you checked vrbo or airbnb?

I'll be biking in the vicinity of the Pinkerton Tunnel with my daughter. I've heard there's no lighting in the tunnel. Do we need lights for our bikes if we're going through the tunnel? Any other thoughts are welcome.

Hello
The short answer no.
The Pinkerton tunnel is only 849 foot long.
Enjoy the ride.

I agree with Wiily that a light is not required to ride through this tunnel. With large openings on either end, daylight enters both ends of the tunnel. If you were to feel uncomfortable riding through the tunnel, there is a bypass trail you can ride around the tunnel without adding much distance.

Thanks for the input. We didn't quite make it to the Pinkerton Tunnel, but I'm looking forward to going back to the area, if not this season, then next.

I must say that the Gap trail from Connelsville to Confluence is so enjoyable. I've always loved every part of the Gap Trail that I've ridden on, but this was so comfortable, shaded, along the river, great views of the river. I can't wait to return.

Here's a report on our trip:

Wednesday, July 12, we drove from Pittsburgh to Connelsville and had a delicious lunch at the Kickstand Kitchen in Connelsville. Then my daughter and I biked to Ohiopyle. My husband met us there then drove us to our hotel, the Historic Summit Inn in Farmington. We loved the hotel. If you ever have a chance to stay at the Historic Summit Inn, I highly recommend it. Our evening meal and breakfast were excellent and the rooms were quite comfortable. The staff were great. Wednesday we watched a beautiful sunset on a large veranda. Thursday we biked from Ohiopyle to Confulence. We had a delicious lunch at the River's Edge Cafe in Confluence. We then drove home.

It was a wonderful little trip.

Does this campground generally fill up? I am looking do this ride the end of July and planning where to stay.

Thanks!

There is plenty of space. It does sometimes get busier, but there are additional areas slightly upriver where you could set up your tent if the hiker-biker area is too crowded.

I agree with Andy. There is generally a large enough area to accommodate the overnight campers at the Cedar Creek Park H/B campground. In the unlikely event that it were full there is a pay-to-stay campground with showers in West Newton just 3 to 4 miles away.

Note however there is a Family Funfest planned at the park for Sunday August 6. If your plans were to slip into this date, you may find things a little more congested in the park that weekend.