NATIONAL ROAD SCENIC BYWAY mix of 1,780)RIC 47 ROCKY GAP STATE PARK pennsylvania Flintstone POLISH MTN (Elev 1,780) Hancock INDIAN SPRINGS WMA t i o n a ve e o GREEN RIDGE STATE FOREST 522 Ri Rd ans Rd Berkeley Springs, WV Cacapon, WV ge CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL SCENIC BYWAY FORT FREDERICK STATE PARK Rid en tow G re n O rle 9 MARYLAND LORE: The name Paw Paw, shared by a canal tunnel and a West Virginia town at the Maryland border, refers to small, fruit-bearing trees found nearby. 220 chesapeake & ohio canal M Po to m ac Ri ve r Old 236 The 19th-century engineering feat nicknamed “The Grand Old Ditch” has become a hub of outdoor recreational activity, with biking, bird watching and mule-drawn barge rides. miles from cumberland to d.c. b uilt between 1828 and 1850, the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal worked with 74 lock lifts that, for nearly a century, allowed the passage of boats carrying coal, lumber and other products. The 184.5-mile-long canal towpath is a national park with a network of visitor centers, campsites, recreational activities and historic landmarks. Cumberland to Hancock INCLUDING MD 51, MD 144, I-70, US 40, MD 56, MD 68, MD 63 & MD 65 Original plans had called for the canal to extend into the Ohio Valley, but when railroading won the race to the west, work stalled in Cumberland, a transportation crossroads in the coal-rich Allegheny Mountains. The town is now home to the Cumberland C&O Canal National Historical Park Visitor Center and the Canal Place Heritage Area, o ering canal boat replica tours, scenic railroad rides, dining and shopping. At the Spring Gap Recreation Area in Oldtown, a one-mile hike takes you to Lock 72 and a restored, two-story lock tender’s house. Back on the road below Flintstone, you skirt Green Ridge State Forest, famous for its wildlife watching and o -road biking. In the distance is the Paw Paw Tunnel, which workers spent 14 years cutting through more than 3,000 feet of rock. The byway dips into West Virginia, following WV 9 and US 522 for about an hour before re-emerging in Maryland near the C&O Canal’s Hancock Visitors Center and the Western Maryland Rail Trail. For several miles from Hancock to Big Pool, the canal runs parallel with the Historic National Road. West of Williamsport, where another canal visitor center is located, Lockhouse 49 is the fi rst of four authentic lockhouses on the byway that provide overnight quarters for up to eight people. Sharpsburg to Washington, D.C. INCLUDING MD 34, MD 478, MD 464, US 15, MD 28, MD 109, MD 117, MD 190 & MD 189 The canal byway links into a Civil War trail around Sharpsburg, site of Antietam National Battlefi eld. In Brunswick, a railroad museum shares space with the C&O Canal’s Visitor Center, featuring exhibits that showcase the town’s lively transportation past. Meanwhile, single-night tent camping is available at more than 30 hiker-biker campsites located every few miles along most of the towpath. Beyond Poolesville and Seneca, you come to the Carderock Recreation Area, a haven for rock climbers. Three miles to the west is Great Falls, 14 | Potomac Cumberland maryland scenic byways GREAT FALLS PAW PAW TUNNEL C&O CANAL • Potomac
MD Scenic Byways Digital Guide: Page 14
