Today we biked a portion of the C&O (Chesapeake and Ohio) canal towpath trail in Maryland to end up at the bridge where you can cross over to old town Harper’s Ferry, WV.
The trail is 185 miles and there are many places to park and enjoy sections along this beautiful path following the Potomac River. There are all kinds of fun activities – boat, jet ski, raft, tube, canoe, or kayak on the river; hike, bike or horseback ride; fish or mountain climb, and more.
Obviously the area is very rich with history which I’ll go into a bit at the end of this post.
Before we went, I looked for a local and organic place where we could have lunch in Harper’s Ferry. It’s nice to sit outside in the historic district and watch the train go by along the river. I didn’t find anything right in the old town area (although there are many nice spots there in general), but there was a perfect place about a mile away called Canal House Cafe.
We didn’t want to carry the bikes up and over the bridge (there’s a very narrow and curved staircase), so decided it would be a nice walk through the historic town, especially with 4th of July activities in progress. The walk was OK for a one-time experience but it was almost entirely up a very steep heel, so I don’t recommend hiking it in addition to a long, round-trip bike ride unless you’re up for it.
The Café is in a 1820s stone house and they have some creative dishes made from ingredients provided by 13 local farms and business, including vegetarian and gluten-free options. There’s plenty of seating on the outdoor patio.
I left the café with my leftovers in a giant non-bike-friendly box but made it home in addition to a bike inner tube box full of fresh raspberries that I picked along the trail, and a little raspberry plant that my daughter put into her water bottle. I picked more berries off of one wild plant on the trail that I got all season at home because the birds got to them first.
The town of Harpers Ferry began in the late 1730s and is tucked into the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers. I won’t go into the civil war battles and other history of Harpers Ferry because it’s easy to find online, there’s even a Visit Harpers Ferry smart phone app. It’s a beautiful town with marvelous architectural and scenic views.
Digging of the shipping canal along the towpath began in 1825, ironically on the same day that construction started on the B&O (Baltimore and Ohio) Railroad. The canal boats shipped around a million tons of coal before being put out of business by the railroads. Today there’s water in about 25 miles of the canal. Originally there were different types of locks along the canal and some of them are still working. The National Park Service preserves the canal and it’s interesting to read their facts, including that the canal hired 4,000 men in its peak year – in addition to all of the mules that did the towing.
