The Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Towpath is a 184.5-mile dirt and gravel trail that runs along the C&O Canal between Cumberland, Maryland, and Washington, DC. It was originally built for mules to walk on while they towed boats moving cargo (largely coal) along the canal. Four staff members from Foursquare ITP recently rode the full towpath over three beautiful days in April. It was an impressive feat, so we wanted to dig dipper into their trip and have them reflect on those three days together. Here’s what we learned from Laura Duke, Ehab Ebeid, Charlie Echard, and Cinnamon Swenson after their monumental ride.
Training for the Ride
Laura: Charlie, Cinnamon, and I did most of our training rides together. We started riding both Saturday and Sunday about four weeks before the ride, with each week’s rides getting progressively longer.
Cinnamon: Our training rides exposed me to more of DC, Maryland, and Virginia than my seven years of living in the region! Although the main purpose of training was to prepare ourselves for three consecutive days of long rides, we got to know our bikes and explore the scenic parts of our neighboring communities along the way.
Laura: One of the highlights from our training was getting to ride the MARC bike car. The conductors at Union Station were great and pointed us directly to the bike car as soon as they saw us rolling our bikes towards the train. We took the MARC to BWI to ride to Annapolis via the BWI airport loop and the Baltimore and Annapolis (B&A) trail. Both are great trails, and it was nice to switch up our typical routes.
Ehab: I was sad to miss out on the group’s impressive training schedule since I am no longer local to DC. I was inspired by their plans, especially the Annapolis ride, and did some light training rides of my own in Boston, including on the Minuteman Bikeway and the Somerville Community Path, two of my favorite urban rail trails in the Boston area. I was excited to hear all about how their training went, once we were all on the towpath together! But first, I had to fly with my bike from Boston to DC!
Cinnamon: Looking back, I’m realizing how cool it was to see different options of traveling with your bike firsthand. Originally on the MARC bike car, then handing our bikes off to the wonderful conductors on the Floridian when traveling from DC to Cumberland, and Ehab disassembling his bike to be checked on a plane.
Charlie: Agreed! I’ve been wanting to use the bike car for years. The training rides also gave us more real experience with the active transportation infrastructure we care so much about. From the center-running bike lanes on Pennsylvania Avenue in the District to the B&A trail in Maryland and all the sharrows in between, we had so much fun seeing all the typologies in action! Some stretches were smooth, safe, and easy to follow, while others left a little more to be desired, all showing how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go.
The Ride
Day 0: Rockville, Maryland to Cumberland, Maryland
TRAIN JOURNEY: 130 MILES
Charlie: I think we were all a little nervous about taking our bikes on Amtrak’s Floridian, but getting some experience with the MARC bike car beforehand was helpful.
Cinnamon: We were a bit worried to get on the train with our bikes left on the platform for the conductors to take. The storage car was located at the end of the train, so we had to wave goodbye to our bikes as the train pulled away, and hope they’d make it to the other side!
Laura: Bringing our bikes on the Floridian ended up being so easy, and they brought our bikes right to us once we arrived in Cumberland. I would totally take my bike on Amtrak again (although I did prefer sitting right next to it on the MARC)!
Cinnamon: We peeked at the tickets of the other passengers around us to see if they were headed to the train’s final destination, Chicago, and wondered if anyone was still aboard from the train’s first stop in Miami. As we looked out the window, we tried to spot the Towpath we’d soon ride on.
Day 1: Cumberland, Maryland to Hancock, Maryland
LENGTH: 61.85 MILES
Laura: The ride started out beautifully, and the weather was perfect. We were all so excited to get the journey started!
Ehab: The C&O and the Great Alleghany Passage trails both struck me as the bike version of a great American road trip. I think DC and Pittsburgh may be the only two large US cities with a fully protected trail connecting them!
Cinnamon: Stopping for breakfast at Café Mark, we met a family who had just completed the C&O trail. The children shared stories of counting 1,159 turtles along the way, which filled me with excitement for our own journey ahead. This was just one instance of many throughout our training and the ride where I noticed the friendliness and congeniality of the cycling community in the DMV region. This sense of belonging was something I was deeply grateful for, extending beyond our local routes to welcoming cyclists that we encountered on the trail and at pit stops along the way.
Laura: We stopped at the Paw Paw Tunnel—a tunnel that started construction in 1836 to avoid six extra miles of towpath around the mountains—to hike a bit of the Tunnel Hill Trail. The tunnel was over half a mile long, and we popped out the other side to some beautiful mountain views.
Ehab: President John Quincy Adams once compared the construction of the C&O canal to the construction of the Pyramids of Giza. Riding through the wet tunnel and hiking above it gave us a tiny glimpse of the effort it must have taken to construct it. The tunnel was longer—and darker—than I expected, but the views once we exited were just gorgeous.
Cinnamon: The rocky mountainside was such a treat. It felt like we were transported from woodsy Maryland to Oregon.
Laura: It started absolutely pouring when we were about six miles from our Airbnb in Hancock, Maryland. Considering the number of rides we did in April, I think we got lucky that this was the only rain we had the entire time!
Ehab: The thunder was frightening! But we were also grateful that we had most of the day’s miles already behind us. We could already see Hancock!
Charlie: I think we also got lucky that the one day it rained was also the one day we had access to laundry. Just look at this photo of me and Laura, soaked from head to toe at the Sheetz in Hancock and you’ll understand.
Cinnamon: Pro-tip: Use air vents to dry your sopping wet sneakers if the dryer isn’t doing the job!
Day 2: Hancock, Maryland to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
LENGTH: 70.05 MILES
Laura: Unfortunately, because of the rain the trail was super muddy when we started out.
Ehab: The muddy conditions can really slow you down, especially over a long distance and with gravel of varying quality.
Cinnamon: I was happy to take our time at breakfast in hopes of waiting out the rain. We were definitely slogging through the first 20 miles of the day with the trail turning into “peanut butter” mud. My average speed hovered around nine mph, a testament to the challenging conditions. Although this part was not ideal, the shared struggle to keep going and annoyance with being constantly covered in mud made the experience feel like a true adventure. The rain, while inconvenient, deepened the trail’s colors, making the greens more vibrant.
Ehab: We had a lovely lunch stop in Williamsport, Maryland. It makes me smile to remember us trying to protect our food from the wind as we sat by the C&O visitor center. Then it was back to the muddy and windy towpath!
Laura: I was starting to get concerned about how slow I felt until we got to the most beautiful part of the whole towpath—the segment between the C&O Canal Lock 41 and Guard Lock 4 where the Potomac River was navigable enough that the boats didn’t need to travel separately in the canal.
Ehab: Pavement at last! The respite came exactly at the right time—and with a gorgeous view too!
Charlie: So beautiful and so smooth! I forgot that we’d have a brief reprieve from the muddy trail, so we definitely didn’t want this part to end.
Cinnamon: Luckily, the sun dried the path after the paved detour, and we gained our motivation back for the second half of the ride!
Ehab: We decided to accept that this would be a slower, longer day and planned a dinner stop in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. We biked across the Potomac, through the campus of Shepherd University, and as we munched on tacos, we thought about how riding the last 15 miles in the dark (and relative cold) would feel.
Laura: I was nervous for the nighttime ride at first, but it ended up being thrilling and was gorgeous out under the stars; we did indeed pause to stargaze! We also happened to be riding the same night as the C&O 100-mile run! We saw so many racers running and walking along the trail and it was fun to cheer everyone on as we biked by.
Ehab: We were so impressed by them! Because of the race, the trail was busier at night than it was during the day. It felt so lively and safe.
Day 3: Harpers Ferry, West Virginia to Washington, DC
LENGTH: 68.23 MILES
Cinnamon: Harpers Ferry made the 130 miles we biked worth it. It was my first time visiting the historic town, where charming houses seemed to climb the hills. I couldn’t help but slow the group down (sorry!) as I paused on the Harpers Ferry Railroad Bridge to listen to the Potomac River rushing over the rocks below and take in the view.
Laura: Charlie and I rode from DC to Harpers Ferry and back in one weekend in fall 2023, so we knew what the ride looked like from here on out!
Charlie: The ride was just as beautiful this time!
Ehab: Always happy to be back in Harpers Ferry! I’d biked between DC and Harpers Ferry a few times—the only section of the C&O I’d ridden before this trip.
Laura: We stopped at White’s Ferry Grill for lunch—a classic among cyclists. It’s so fun to stop with all the other cyclists and hear everyone talking about their rides! We also made sure to stock up on water; the well water along the canal is non-potable.
Ehab: We basked in the sun, looked on at the recently abandoned ferry, and enjoyed a delicious lunch. Then it was onwards to Great Falls, where we had another lovely break and saw many more trail users.
Laura: Making it to Great Falls finally made it feel like our goal was within reach!
Charlie: Haha! I’ve biked to Great Falls more times than I can count, but I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to be there. It meant we were almost home!
Laura: If you are wondering if it’s worth your time to go slightly out of your way to find mile marker zero in Georgetown when you just want to get home, the answer is YES, it’s a must! We were so happy to get there, and we felt so accomplished!
Ehab: Yes! Pittsburgh to Cumberland 2026!
Charlie: I can’t wait! Where are we training next?
Wow—that’s impressive, isn’t it? One of Foursquare ITP’s core values is passion for the profession, and I think we can all agree that Laura, Ehab, Charlie, and Cinnamon all have an abundance of that. Congratulations on your ride, we can’t wait to see what you do next!