That, however, does not explain the NPS’s half ass band aid solutions to the areas that repeatedly wash out. When I did the C&O a few years ago, there were several sections that were simply dangerous where the trail had been washed away by streams without adequate drainage. The NPS solution to fill them with very large rocks created a dangerous situation. I think the NPS’s problem is more a lack of funding.

Yup. NPS is severely underfunded.

https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-e...reaking-point/

Preserve the trail surface, okay. In many of the images I see from the C&O, clearance between the canal and the trail surface for a tow rope is not maintained. Their definition of "canal operation" seems arbitrary.



Time and again it's been shown that the least impact & lowest maintenance cost is a hard surface with engineered drainage. Otherwise, the mud holes get wider, the ruts get deeper, erosion is continuous and the washouts are eternal.

A serious twisting of what I said, and what their guidelines are. I simply stated their rule regarding the composition of soil used, stating correctly that it is to be the same composition as what was there when the towpath was operational. Nothing was stated that could possibly construed as needing to keep it operational in regard to clearance for a tow rope. That is absurd, they are not keeping the canal operational. All that was stated was that the soil composition on the path be the same as it was when the canal was operational. This was from park service employees in 2011. I do not knwo if their regulations have changed, but I sincerely doubt it.

All that being said, I am still amazed when I hear people telling horror stories of the path when wet. I did it during a hurricane that was hitting DC. As a result, we had torrential downpours while on the trail. I used Continental City Contacts for the ride and had zero issues. The surface gave decent traction despite being soaked, and having standing water. Many of the horror stories came from people riding with no fenders. I believe a lot of the negativity is a perception based on the mess and aggravation caused by the lack of fenders. When one is wet and muddy, your perception will never be positive, unless that is your type of thing.

I still tend to prefer the C&O over the GAP, which is the trail I ride frequently. I wish the C&O were closer so I could ride it more.

My experience matches yours.

The C&O puddles had a solid firm surface under the water, I rolled through quickly and did not get bogged down in mud. I only rode both trails once, that was 11 years ago. But I clearly remember being surprised how firm the underlying soil surface on the C&O felt given the conditions.



I had fenders, my touring partner with the red jersey in the above photo did not. That was his last tour without fenders, since then he has toured with fenders. His bike is in the photo below on our GAP and C&O tour.



Since I have not been there for over a decade, things may have changed since my tour.

When I did the C&O, I noticed little puddles, even on elevated sections where one would have expected them to drain. I am not a soil scientist, but I suspect that there is a lot of impermeable clay in the surface. They would have used clay to line the canal. If the NPS is maintaining historical integrity by using clay on the towpath (now, walking and biking path) it will always be muddy.
One thing we can do to help them and ourselves is to lubricate the hiker biker pumps that access that delicious iodinated water. A little Trip-Flow helps the water flow.

What I liked about the GAP was the industrial and labor history near Pittsburgh, the mining memorials and other remnants of our industrial and coal-fueled past. The GAP is a rolling history lesson in many ways. Plus the tunnels and bridges were very cool too; I'm always amazed at human ingenuity.






I also liked that I could fly my drone on the GAP. Can't fly on the C&O.





And the bridges and tunnels too. Lots of interesting things to observe ponder.

Here's Chapter 3 of my trip, from Ohiopyle to Meyersdale.

Life was so much simpler in the olden days, when we did not have to worry about our drone rights (and/or pesky woodland cover obstructing drone photography).

But then we did not get the awesome pix that you have posted, back in those troglodyte days.

Yeah, I love taking the drone because of the shots I can take. I also hate taking the drone because every time I take it out it's another 30-40 minutes to boot it up, launch it, scout for the shot, take the shot, land it, and pack it back up.

I saw the mention of the coke ovens along the trail. 38,000 of them! The area must have been a nightmare of smoke, eroding land, and coal waste. It's hard to believe now.
~~~

Polluted water flowing out of abandoned mine shafts in the hills above the trail and into the river.

I've traveled through Pennsylvania extensively. The state bears so many scars from our industrial past - coal and oil, steel and textile, the Johnstown Flood and the death of industries and the towns that grew and died with them.



St. Nicholas Coal Breaker

Pennhurst Power Plant



Scranton Lace Factory


It's within this context that the Great Allegheny Passage trail should be viewed as a glimmer of hope for a better future. It took decades to build and it's now a destination for cyclists from around the country. For a state that's seen better days, it's a small but significant victory.


Morguen Toole Co Hotel, Meyersdale, Pennsylvania

Keystone Viaduct

Eastern Continental Divide

Mason-Dixon Line


Mile 0, Great Allegheny Passage, Cumberland, Maryland

Mile 0, Great Allegheny Passage, Cumberland, Maryland



Here's my video of the last stretch of the GAP, from Meyersdale to Cumberland, Maryland where the GAP and C&O meet.

Some of that development you pass on the South Side of PGH while riding out of town used to be the site of the J&L Steel plant. I remember when they were leveling the site while I was in law school in the late 80s.

I'm guessing that this is a remnant of that old steel plant. Glad they kept things like this as a reminder of the past.

at one point Pittsburgh was the steel capital of the world

the birth of the commercial oil industry was just north of Pittsburgh in the Oil City / Titusville area - can still see remnants when traveling on the Oil Creek State Park trail and the Allegheny River trail … the Drake Well museum (northern end of the Oil Creek State Park trail) in Oil City has some neat stuff … also has a running train / rail road


https://www.traillink.com/trail/oil-...te-park-trail/

.

While the GAP and C&O trails are connected in Cumberland, Maryland, they are very different trails. One follows old rail lines, the other follows an old canal. One was a decades-long effort to create, the other was designated a National Monument in 1961 by President Eisenhower and a National Historic Part in 1971 by President Nixon. The C&O leaving Cumberland Maryland feels much more remote. And much muddier too. Both great trails.





Cumberland, MD

Along the C&O

Along the C&O

Along the C&O

Along the C&O

Pigman's Ferry Hiker Biker Campsite

They definitely are completely different. I like both, but when I last did the entire route, I enjoyed the C&O more. It is difficult to say exactly why, but I just liked the trail vs the limestone. It may be because I live close enough to the GAP that I ride it more, but overall the monotony of the GAP wore on me. Once I was on the C&O it just seemed more picturesque if you will.

This was my first time on the GAP/C&O and I was a bit surprised at how different they were. Can't say that I preferred one over the other, but I did appreciate that they were different and that things changed along the trip.

I was surprised too.

But in planning the trip, I knew that one was predominantly tow path for a canal, thus mostly flat except at lock and dams where you have a sudden change in elevation.

And the other was rail. And I had read that you spent a lot of time pedaling up a long hill (when east bound) even though the hill was flat enough that you did not notice it.

Thus, I knew they were different, I just did not expect them to be as different as they actually were.

That was only my third bike tour, so I was still on the steep part of the learning curve.

Did you take the short detour from the GAP to see Buffalo Bill’s house from The Silence of the Lambs? I finally remembered in 2019. It’s now a rental property.

They are both wonderful trails. I am sure the reason I enjoyed the C&O more on that trip, was because I had spent so much time on the GAP previously, it was a nice change. My wife and I ride the GAP often, and we absolutely love it. So glad it is near us.

Last year a friend and I mixed some GAP riding with 35 miles on the Ghost Town Trail from Ebensburg PA to Back Lick, north of the GAP. (Journal writeup here.)

Very enjoyable mix (kind of like a blend of the Towpath and the GAP) of history and rural riding, though 1 mile or so in the middle was still in bad shape from floods and may be worse (or better!) now.

Frequent rest stops with lots of railroad, coal mining history and environmental impact, floods, etc.

I missed that stop, unfortunately.

Day 2 of the C&O (eastbound) is posted


Day two on the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Trail, from the Pigman's Ferry Hiker-Biker campground to the White Rock Hiker-Biker campground. After a mellow morning, I stop in Paw Paw, West Virginia before tacking the famous Paw Paw Tunnel, The afternoon features some obstacles and a cool relic from the past. A little less muddy than the first afternoon on the C&O, thankfully.






Paw Paw Tunnel

Inside the Paw Paw Tunnel

Paw Paw Tunnel

The GAP and C&O are national treasures! Thanks for your write-ups and videos, I used them to convince my riding buddies to make the GAP and C&O our 1 week tour this year. We all enjoyed it. We all anticipated the C&O being much rougher than it was but we only had one morning of rain and somehow missed the downpour that caught others the same day.

All that have enjoyed these trails and are able could help ensure they will be available for future generations by making a contribution to one of the several non-profits involved in maintaining these trails for the benefit of all. I'm making a contribution to the Great Allegheny Passage Conservancy. I sometimes sense that there are some on this forum that take for granted the fact that such amazing resources are available to us with almost no thought as to the tremendous effort and cost incurred by others to make these happen and then continue to maintain them.

The attitude that all of this is "free" and easily found on the internet so I don't need - fill in the blank - is so disheartening. Let them die, they are useless, what do they do for ME? NO NO NO, all of this is there for you because of their efforts (unappreciated, evidently). What they have created will eventually die and go away without our continued support. I'd hate to see these trails become overgrown, eroded trash heaps even though I may not ride them again myself.