Uh, what's that smell?
The Lowdown
The C&O towpath is 184.5 miles from the zero marker start in Georgetown, DC, and ending in Cumberland, MD. So, breaking it up into ~60 mile days works pretty well. Since we're planning on riding to DelFest, there's ~10 miles tacked on to the end for picking up wristbands at Allegheny College of Maryland, and getting to the Allegheny County Fairgrounds where DelFest is held. Logistically, C&O is on the simple side because there's easy access to a bunch of towns with all services along the way.
However, the C&O always finds a way to be more challenging than it has any right to be on paper. The weather can be pretty intense with storms or heat, there are usually a few washouts to navigate somewhere along the way, sewage lines busted (ew), and construction that requires re-navigating. Luckily that's the fun part!
What's the camp/sleeping situation?
There's a couple options for where to sleep. For camping, there are free campsites about every 6 miles along the trail, with the first one at mile 16.1. There's a ton of information about it on the NPS website. There's also a number of paid campgrounds that have some more amenities and are great options, as well as the chicken coops in Hancock. Another cool option is the reservable restored lockhouses that are managed by the C&O Canal Trust.
Draft Schedule
There's a lot of flexibility and room to change here, but a solid tested option would be:
| Day | Distance | Ending Spot | Lodging | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 54 miles | Brunswick, MD | Brunswick Family Campground | Solid campground with cheap-ish tent camping that has small cabins as well. Bathrooms, showers, water, electricity, all the stuff as well as being a short trek to Brunswick for dinner. |
| 2 | 70.7 miles | Hancock, MD | C&O Bicycle Chicken Coops | Uuh chicken coops? Well that's kinda what they look like. The bike shop in town has lodging in the back which is basically a bunkhouse surrounding an outdoor common area. There are showers, and you roll your sleeping bag out on one of the bunks. Pretty unique setup, pretty nice to not have to worry about the tent. |
| 3 | 58.4 miles | Cumberland, MD | Donnelly's | There's a campground right on the path a couple miles short of Cumberland that uh, totally exists. Lots of space and run by quite a character. Fairly easy to get to Cumberland for some food. |
| 4 | ~10 miles | DelFest | Festival Camping | Just a few miles to get to DelFest in the morning. First need to pick up a wristband and then get to the Fairgrounds. Nice to get there on the early side to have choice pick of the camp spot. |
Food and Water
Definitely a nice thing about the C&O is that there's a lot of access to food and water along the trail, so you don't really need to carry much if you don't want to. For water specifically, there's iodine purified water pumps in a lot of the campsites, however they are frequently locked and not usable for one reason or another - so it's best to not count on them. Depending on the weather, it's good to have around 2-3 liters of water capacity. Definitely recommend insulated bottles when it's warm.
Some notable spots along the trail are:
| Mile Marker | Town | Spots |
|---|---|---|
| 36 | Dickerson, MD | White's Ferry Store & Grill |
| 55 | Brunswick, MD | Smokehouse Brewery, Beans in the Belfry |
| 61 | Harper's Ferry, WV | Lots of options when you cross the bridge into town |
| 99 | Williamsport, MD | Buncha options, tragically Desert Rose Cafe closed |
| 125 | Hancock, MD | Buddylou's Eats Drinks & Antiques |
| 156 | Paw Paw, WV | The Liberty gas station has a solid sandwich game |
What bike to bring?
Honestly there is a loooooooot of room here. The C&O is solidly a gravel ride, with most of it pretty well maintained with hard pack that’s easy to ride on. Dispersed throughout there’s some stretches of dirt double track, but the roughest conditions is honestly the first 20ish miles leaving Georgetown. If it’s been raining, there can definitely be some muddy spots which is worth considering for tire choice. Still, here are the basic considerations:
Gearing
The C&O is effectively flat, so this is really a non-issue. You could probably do it on a single speed without too much difficulty if you really wanted to. A couple of the towns we might want to ride up to get lunch, and those will definitely be the hilliest parts of the ride. Basically, whatever you’ve got is fine.
Tires
This is where there’s a ton of debate. People are constantly arguing about it on Reddit and one-upping each other on how thin their tires are when they did it. Anything that is more of a ‘gravel’ tire is going to do the trick. Likely more comfortable to have something that can do a bit lower tire pressure. Doing straight mountain bike tires would not really be necessary for the terrain, and they’ll likely feel slow. Tubes vs. tubeless I’d also say is somewhat of a non-issue here, unless your tires are on the smaller side and you still want to do lower pressures without a pinch flat. I’ve never had much issue with punctures on the C&O, but I would recommend having a spare tube even if you’re going tubeless.
Weight and Storage
This is probably the biggest challenge. You do want to have a bike that is capable of carrying all the gear you’re going to bring. There are soooo many ways to do this and it really comes down to personal preference and how much you want to invest in bags. Because the C&O is flat, I wouldn’t stress too much about overall weight.
Panniers are super nice because they’re easy to pack and can hold a lot of gear, but depending on the brand and how they affix to racks they can be pretty rattly on the gravel.
Bikepacking-style bags are nice because they can be less clunky, but also are more annoying to pack/unpack and aren’t as broadly useful off the trail. You can also achieve some of this with just some dry bags strapped to the top of a rack, the fork, and handlebars.
You could try and carry a backpack the whole way if that’s what you’ve got, but I certainly would not envy your back with that approach.
If you’ve got any questions about it it’s certain to be a main topic of conversation in the group chat.
Fenders and Mudguards
It is definitely nice to have something to keep the dirt/mud from splashing in your face and on your back. If you do use fenders, they should have pretty good clearance around your tire or they tend to get clogged with mud and drag. Mudguards are helpful, or large water bottles on the downtube that can also block spray. If you’ve got racks in the back, having a bag on the top or putting down a piece of plastic or something to act as a fender also works pretty well.
Packing List
This is a pretty exhaustive list, where some of the items (especially in the repair) can be shared within the group. Also, the clothes change a lot based on the weather. It is definitely helpful to have separate camp-clothes and ride clothes in any case. I included the cook kit here, though that is pretty optional unless you want to make morning camp coffee.
| Sleep | Repair | Clothes |
| Tent | Pump | Bike Shorts |
| Pillow | Tube/Patch | Tank |
| Sleeping Bag | Levers | Sleep Shirt |
| Pad | Tool Pack | Boxers x3 |
| Tech | Rope | Flannel |
| Battery Pack | Knife | Gloves |
| Kindle | Toiletries | Camp Shorts |
| Headlamp | Bronners | Sweat Pants |
| Bike Lights | Toothbrush | Shower Towel |
| Phone | Toothpaste | Bandanas |
| Charger | Drugs | Hat |
| Cook Kit | Food | Socks |
| Stove | Couple Bars | Misc |
| Fuel | Water Bottles | Lock |
| Cookpot/Bowl | Sperts Drink | Sandals |
| Spork | Sperts Drink | |
| Cup | Sunscreen | |
| Lighter | Bug Spray | |