Reply to Do NOT camp at McMahon's Mill Campground

I'm writing to plead that you take the McMahon's Mill Campground OFF your website C & O Canal Towpath camping options.

First off, let me say that my family loves and appreciates your web page and the vast amount of information you provide. We print out the information and use it while we bike on the towpath. My family of 5 (13 year old daughter, 10 year old daughter, 2 year old son, husband, and myself) have been traveling from Virginia for 15 months now to bike the C & O. We come for the weekend, tow all our camping gear and food, spend the night on the towpath, and bike as far as we can each trip. It has taken us over a year, but this past weekend we officially finished biking the entire towpath!

We have never been disappointed with the information your website provides, which is why I'm writing to share our experience, in the hopes that you will please update your information for the sake of other biker-campers. Let me first explain that my family is not afraid to "rough it". Up until this trip, we have always camped at the hiker-biker campsites right along the towpath. Filtering our own water and using the provided outhouses. We do this with a teenage daughter, preteen daughter, and a toddler and we like it and have a wonderful time.

This past weekend, we wanted to stay at the Cumberland Valley H/B site, but the pump was broken. We needed more water, so we tried to filter water from the Potomac, but the access to the river at that site wasn't great, so we decided to keep biking. We reached the Opequon Junction H/B with the intentions of camping there, but there were already 3 tents set up and it is a rather small site, so our large tent wouldn't fit. We were exhausted and couldn't make it to Big Woods H/B, so we decided to do something we'd never done. We biked off the towpath up to a campsite, McMahon's Mill Campground.

It was scary from the moment we hit the property. The buildings were dilapidated, deserted, overgrow

also heard from biker in hancock how bad the place was he went on to williamsport

Cruised by just to check this place out. Yea, it’s a real dump. Sad that it has been neglected for so long. Looks like it was once a nice place to stay and enjoy.