Pittsburgh to Washington: GAP and C&O Towpath

Overview

Two historic corridors join end-to-end into 539km of car-free riding from Pittsburgh's Point State Park to Mile 0 in Georgetown, Washington DC. The Great Allegheny Passage climbs almost imperceptibly on a crushed-limestone railbed through the Laurel Highlands, crests the Eastern Continental Divide inside the Big Savage Tunnel, then hands you to the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal towpath at Cumberland for a gentle fall along the Potomac all the way to the capital. The moment that makes it is bursting out of Big Savage's southern portal to find Maryland unrolled below you and 32km of freewheeling into Cumberland. The variable that catches people out is the C&O itself: after rain the towpath turns to peanut butter, and the unlit 950m Paw Paw Tunnel — torch essential — has a rough, narrow boardwalk above the old canal. Ride it eastbound for the net downhill. Trail towns (Ohiopyle, Confluence, Meyersdale, Hancock, Harpers Ferry) space food and beds conveniently, and free hiker-biker campsites line the C&O every 8km or so. Six days at 90km/day is comfortable. Amtrak's Capitol Limited links DC back to Pittsburgh with roll-on bike service. Budget around £700 mixing B&Bs and camping.

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Prefilled for 1 October 2026 — the next best-season window. Search on partner sites — opens in a new tab.