50@50 – C&O Canal, MD
Cumberland, Maryland, straddled between West Virginia and Pennsylvania, is the terminus of one great historic trail, the C & O Canal towpath, and the beginning of another, the Great Allegheny Passage, or the GAP as it is affectionately called. Encompassing both is a larger network of hiking/biking trails called the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail. Over 830 miles are planned, most already existing or completed. Legend tells that young George Washington envisioned a commercial artery from the Chesapeake Bay out to the Ohio country, and its namesake river.
My purpose was to travel along the first national road, today highway 40, from Maryland into Pennsylvania, and explore portions of the C & O (Chesapeake and Ohio) towpath.
The Potomac is a mighty force; one that made trade going inland difficult.[1] When begun in 1828, the canal represented the vision of an expanding young country. By the time it reached Cumberland, 184.5 miles later, in 1850, the railroads had made it obsolete. Workers had constructed 74 locks, 7 dams, 11 aqueducts and a tunnel. Until 1924, when it finally closed, hundreds of families lived along the canal, moving up and down the river. A Supreme Court justice championed the preservation of the canal, and it became a national historical park in 1971.
Beyond the Washington region, a few roads intersect with the C & O, but very little road runs along side the canal. Because of this limited access, the only way to experience the canal is to actually hike beside it. I walked a woodsy three miles east from Spring Gap and back on a quiet midweek day. The path is flat and even, though muddy in spots from recent rains. The campgrounds were empty, and I encountered only one cyclist on my trek. The campgrounds fill up in summer, with some reserved for the canal’s through-hikers.
Downstream, a few small canal communities are rumored to still exist. My drive through Maryland was extremely diverse, and I expect the views along the towpath are equally diverse. My experience represented such a small sliver – like six seconds of your favorite piece of music. As usually happens with good hikes, I leave this one wanting to explore more of it.
[1] I wanted to include some brief info on Native American history here, but the complexity of this region is beyond the scope of this blog. State boundaries are irrelevant in identifying specific historic tribal territory. Thus, in researching historic Native American movement and settlement in western Maryland along the Potomac, it is necessary to research and incorporate the Potomac regions of Virginia, and West Virginia (discussed later) as well. The various tribes belonged primarily to the Algonquin and Siouan linquistic families. Three sites for more information: http://www.native-languages.org/maryland.htm, http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/virginia/index.htm http://www.polsci.wvu.edu/wv/Hardy/harhistory.html