C&O Canal Trail on the Great American Rail-Trail
The C&O Canal and GAP are part of the Great American Rail-Trail, a 3700-mile bike route across the United States, from Washington DC to Seattle.
This coast-to-coast route uses rail-trails and greenways for a car-free path across the country.
Although this ambitious project will take years to complete, over half of the Great American Rail-Trail already exists.
The C&O makes up the Maryland portion of the route, and most of the Pennsylvania portion is comprised of the Great Allegheny Passage.
This map, from
the Rails-to-Trail Conservancy, shows the route.
Green and green-yellow sections are already developed, red sections still need to be developed, and the white boxes are not yet determined.
Major rail-trails in the Great American Rail-Trail include:
Major cities along the route include:
- Washington DC
- Cumberland MD
- Pittsburgh PA
- Columbus OH
- Dayton OH
- Muncie IN
- Chicago IL (southern suburbs)
- Joliet IL
- Davenport IA
- Cedar Rapids IA
- Omaha NE
- Lincoln NE
- Casper WY
- Bozeman MT
- Missoula MT
- Seattle WA