The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal ran northwards from Washington DC - initially alongside the Potomac River to which it provided a towpathed and navigable alternative.


Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, near Brunswick, Maryland

Abandoned many years ago, for much of its length the C & O is now a cycling and walking path, with the former canal channel lost in the undergrowth and dry - in this case to the right of the pathway. [ See Brunswick ]




Canal lock - Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

The old canal locks - about Kennet and Avon Canal size - are also lost in the undergrowth in many places, although access to the lockside is often rather better. This is lock 30 at Brunswick.




Chesapeake and Ohio Canal at Harpers Ferry

At Harpers Ferry, the canal hugs the corner of a rocky outcrop on the North corner, where the rivers Shenandohah and Potomac meet. Within the very busy tourist area, the canal has been (if anything) over restored, with the walls in tact and the canal bed a manicured lawn.




Interprettaion boards

There are interprettaion boards at various places along the C & O in order to help visitors understand something of the history of the area and to see the great differences between those busy days a century or two ago, and today.



From the "East Coast USA, September 2008" series ... common links

Ashburn, Virginia
Colvin Run Mill, Virginia
Brunswick, Maryland
Class of 73 reunion
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
Potomac River

Flight to the USA
Photographing overhead cables
A Sad town in the sunlight
High School Reunions
Colvin and Carlisle

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