After 3/4 of a mile in the Paw Paw Tunnel, much of it in almost complete darkness, reaching the north end of the tunnel is a refreshing show of light.
Taken on Saturday October 28, 2023 at C&O Canal Towpath.
I was surprised to read that some of the lock houses along the canal still had people living in them into the 1960s before it became a National Park.
Taken on Sunday October 22, 2023 at C&O Canal Towpath.
Riding back into the city after a nice afternoon bike ride down the bike path. Later on in the afternoon, I rode a ways into the Notch and the Great Allegheny Passage.
Taken on Sunday October 22, 2023 at C&O Canal Towpath.Paw Paw really is a one-horse town. 451 people population, there is a Dollar General, a Post Office, Big and Tiny's Tavern and Mountain Life Italian Pizza Shop. But that's it.
While the Paw Paw Tunnel is really neat and worth while, there isn't an awful lot across the river in the village of Paw Paw. A Dollar General, a Post Office and some houses but not much of a Main Street. But still worth poking around this small town.
Taken on Monday October 30, 2023 at C&O Canal Towpath.I thought it was Robert Kennedy’s 50 mile hike in February 1963 that kicked off it’s preservation, but actually it’s a quarter century older then that with the intention to become a park.
It was President Franklin Roosevelt’s administration that purchased the it from the B&O Railroad in 1938 with the intention of turning it into a park. The World War got in the way, and it was stuck on a back burner to becoming an official National Park, until on Dwight Eisenhower’s last day in the White House in 1961 he designated it National Historic Landmark.
In February 1963, Attorney General Robert Kennedy and several other Kennedy staffers on the President John F. Kennedy’s challenge did a 50 mile hike on trail. But it was still just a National Historic Landmark until 1971 upon the lobbying of then former Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas it was upgraded to a National Park.
Now, the entire Canal is well signed and a excellent gravel bike path from Washington DC to Cumberland MD.
A fairly extensive history on the creation of the C&O Canal National Park.
Inside the Paw Paw Tunnel which is 3/4 mile long canal bypass under a mountain. The towpath is the hike/bike trail while you can kayak the canal itself. Both recommend either a good flashlight or a bright bicycle light (I had both, plus I was fairly nearly the south end).
Taken on Saturday October 28, 2023 at C&O Canal Towpath.