C&O Home  GAP Home
The C&O Canal Towpath Trail and Great Allegheny Passage

Reply to e-bike restrictions?


Cancel and Return to Forum
Scroll down to see the discussion
All submissions are reviewed for appropriateness. We reserve the right to remove or edit any comment that we consider incorrect, misleading, or inappropriate, at our sole discretion. Please remember that this is a family-friendly website.
Subject:
Reply to e-bike restrictions?
Your Name:

This does not have to be your real name. It could be a "screen name", your initials, or just leave blank.
Your Hometown:

Optional - it's just interesting to know where people are from
Email Address
Comment:
So we know you are a human, please answer this easy math quiz:
2 + 1 =
R on 7/29/2019 11:24:57 PM:
Are there any rules or restrictions against e-bikes on the GAP or C&O?

 
telo from pittsburgh on 7/30/2019 7:51:10 AM:
This subject was discussed in detail several months ago on this forum and it was determined that all types of electrically assisted devices are strictly prohibited from the C & O and the GAP trails.

 
Randy on 7/30/2019 8:59:16 AM:
Is there a way to search this forum to find that discussion somewhere in the 106 pages?

 
Ray (webmaster) on 7/30/2019 10:18:20 AM:
Randy that's a good point, thanks for bringing it up. In fact I do have a forum search on one of the other bike trail websites that I run (BikeKatyTrail.com).

This won't help you right now, but give me a few days and I will get that forum search feature integrated into THIS website. Then at least in the future you'll be able to do a simple search instead of digging through page after page looking for a topic.

More details soon - Happy trails!

 
Rivnuts from Homestead, PA on 7/30/2019 10:21:46 AM:
I don't know for a fact if they are specifically restricted but I have seen them on the trail and have not seen any evidence of any attempt to enforce such a restriction. Of those that I have seen the riders are generally older and use them solely for power assistance and not speed. Any combustion engine is clearly prohibited.

The following are a couple of articles I found related to your question. The latter pertains to the Montour Trail around the south suburbs of Pittsburgh rather that the GAP Trail itself.

https://www.post-gazette.com/life/outdoors/2011/03/21/Electric-bikes-OK-d-for-Great-Allegheny-Passage-trail-use/stories/201103210210

https://montourtrail.org/plan-a-visit/rules/

 
JK on 7/30/2019 11:11:01 AM:
Not true

 
Randy on 7/30/2019 12:50:02 PM:
JK...which comment above is "not true?"

 
Dewey on 7/30/2019 2:59:32 PM:
C&O has an ebike ban because it's National Park Service who have a nation-wide ebike trail ban. GAP on the other hand does permit ebikes up to 750w source: https://gaptrail.org/plan-a-visit/trip-preparations/trail-rules

 
Tampa_Biker from Tampa on 7/30/2019 3:59:27 PM:
There is a search already on the site. It is right next to the merchandise box on the top.

Also, you can do a Google search on any site by typing in the word site followed by a colon and then the website followed by a space and then the search term.

For instance, suppose you want to search all bikecando for tires. Type in the following into the search box: site:bikecando.com tires or suppose you wanted to search Trek's website for tires. Search for site:trekbikes.com tires (note: you may get advertisements too!)

I am assuming other search engines besides Google have something similar.

 
bike guy from robinson on 7/30/2019 4:31:50 PM:
The 750w assist on the GAP is only good for "disabled persons", not for general use by non-disabled.

 
Randy on 7/30/2019 4:51:35 PM:
@Tampa_Biker, I tried that and the search does not search the forum.

 
Ray (webmaster) on 8/1/2019 9:36:19 PM:
OK, the forum search is now ready. It's on the right-hand side near the top of the forum page; look for the magnifying glass icon.

I tested it by searching electric bike (1 discussion) and e-bike (several discussions).

The topic of e-bikes has been pretty well discussed in this thread by now, but hopefully the Forum Search will be helpful for lots of other searches.

Happy trails!

 
Randy on 8/2/2019 11:56:35 AM:
Thanks Ray!!!

 
Rivnuts from Homestead. PA on 9/5/2019 6:39:16 PM:
As of August 30, 2019 the National Park Service has adopted a new policy that generally permits e-bikes within the national parks albeit subject to any specifically different policies of the individual parks. A search of the NPS webpage for the C&O Canal Towpath does not appear to identify any restrictions to the use of e-bikes therein.