For all of you intending to ride the C&O this year, I read that the park service will be removing pump handles and porta potties, supposedly as some kind of cost savings maneuver.

I would always advise taking plenty of water on this portion of the trail since handles are often missing and from what I remember, the water kind of sucks anyway.

Spinnaker, Handles seem to be collectible on the C&O. On the Allegheny River Trails, It is essential to carry water also. The camps in the area are not real friendly in 'fetching' anyone water when asked. It's an awesome ride, but i think the path was put in against some property owners interests and they seem to find path users as more of a PIA than neighbors. Last I heard, there were sections of the C&O that needed massive repair also. Is that still the case? I was always under the impression that even though areas were "closed", it was still up to the discretion of the adventurer as to whether to continue or not.

I rode it last year, and the detour section is repaired. The condition is about the same as ever. I always carry my own drinking and cooking water, but the pumps are nice for washing up. Hope they are still available.

Pump handles can be sold for scrap as they are hard to identify as being stolen unless uniquely marked. If I were a betting man, I would wager that some of them go missing for that reason.

Hoping to ride the Allegheny River Trail from Franklin Emlentown in September as part of a cross-PA tour.

In the past, the NPS also removed the handles when the water from the wells doesn't test as potable. Perhaps the rumored funding cuts and the removed handles have more to do with not having the manpower to test all the wells along the C&O on a regular basis, so they are just removing the handles entirely.

But, I find no mention of this on the NPS C&O website: Camping - Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) or on their News page: News Releases - Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)

I can't see them removing the portable potties without closing down the camping sites... The pollution from toilet paper rolls and human waste all over the area would by far cost them more in the long run.

Was the article dated? It may have been referring to last fall when the NPS shut down the national parks during the 'government' shutdown. Last fall they took off the handles and closed the porta potties.

Here:

Feds Removed Handles From 40 Public Water Pumps Along C&O Canal | CNS News

This seems to suggest at least some have been replaced, but I am not going to sign up to see the entire article:

C&O Canal National Historical Park open to visitors once again - Journal News | News, sports, jobs, community information for Martinsburg - The Journal

" the pumps Don't work, 'cause the vandals took the Handles" .. Bob Dylan

As part of spreading the pain, the NPS shut down all National Parks last year. Best they could do on the C&O was to put concrete barriers to block the parking areas and remove the portapotties and pump handles. No one actually stopped using the towpath. All is back to normal.

Yeah. The organizer of the Black Bear Century had to cancel last year. The ride goes through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, which is run by the NPS. While the roads were open, the facilities and locations for rest stops would have been on NPS property.