Has anyone here ridden some or all of the C&O Canal? I was vacationing near Harper’s Ferry and saw some of the tow path. I would love to ride it someday. Are there any places to stay along the way? My dressage hothouse flower would not be fun but I hope to have a nice well broke Ranch horse someday…
I found it a bit boring. Absolutely flat, straight, bicycles, strollers. Depending on where you are at there are some nice views of the Potomac River. Not supposed to gallop. It is a bit like rails to trails riding. I like real trails.
For horses to stay overnight? I would think you could park your trailer in any of the canal parking sites, as long as your horse sleeps on the trailer. Otherwise, in all my biking along the canal, I’ve only ever seen people camping areas.
Harper’s Ferry does have riding concessions - I’ve passed the string before on a couple of my bike rides out there - and their horses are dead broke to bicycles. Just be prepared that most cyclists don’t have any clue about horse psychology and will merrily cycle past you without pausing…or sometimes without saying a word. As long as your horse doesn’t care, you’ll be fine.
Weekdays are the times to ride the canal on horseback; the weekends are a congestion nightmare with dog walkers, hikers, cyclists, and family groups.
There are gorgeous areas along the canal that are just breathtaking, and would be lots of fun for a nice long trot session. Lots of places you can get water for your horse - either naturally or via the camp-side old fashioned hand water pumps. Many campsites along the canal path are adjacent to a parking area, so if your horse is happy to overnight in the trailer, you can bring a tent and sleep in the camp areas with a campfire, picnic table, and the river flowing just a stone’s throw from your tent door. Lots of nice grazing just about everywhere along the canal path, too. The whole canal is resplendent with history, so make sure you download a guide in order to enjoy the past as well as the present.
And if you head north from Harper’s Ferry, you have the opportunity to ride at Antietam National Battlefield. That place is gorgeous!!! Plus you’ll pass Shepherdstown which has a great ice cream parlor just up the road from the canal path. Easy hacking distance!
Don’t bring your dressage horse. He would have a melt down. When you get that ranch horse, bring him/her. You’ll enjoy it.
I looked at the NCR wesbite for it and here is what is says about camping with horses Horses are not allowed in drive-in campgrounds, picnic areas, or adjacent parking lots. Riders may camp at hiker-biker campgrounds but must tether horses at least 50 feet from the area’s boundaries for sanitary and safety reasons. Owners must prevent horses from damaging trees or undergrowth.
gothedistance- the Harper’s Ferry to Antietam ride sounds amazing. Where did you park for Harper’s Ferry?
I love the C and O Canal. I park in the trailer parking along the river at Point of Rocks. I would not go on a weekend unless you go very early. There are lots of walkers and bikes, so it gets crowded. You horse has to be ok with bikes, strollers and trains. This is a great place to go when most trails are muddy, as the footing stays good at the C and O.
I wonder if you could overnight at Loch Moy/The Maryland Horse Trials.
I don’t consider a horse INSIDE a trailer to be “camping”. A horse outside the trailer is a different matter. So if you want to park your trailer with your horse inside overnight, it shouldn’t be a problem at all at any of the adjacent parking lots.
gothedistance- the Harper’s Ferry to Antietam ride sounds amazing. Where did you park for Harper’s Ferry?
I didn’t park at Harper’s Ferry - that place is a ZOO!! The day I rode there (on my bike) the crowds were incredible, and the roads full of rafting companies hauling rafts and people. The path was packed with walkers, and I had to be very careful and slow on my bike to weave through the masses. Had I been on a horse, there were great big shoulders of grass I could have walked along to avoid the throngs …but probably would have incurred the ire of Park staff for hoofprints in the mowed turf.
Anyway, where I parked - since I had my car and my ebike inside - was at the 2nd parking lot just across the river from Shepherdstown’s, right under the railroad trestle (about mile marker 73 on the C&O map). The parking lot is a nice size and can easily accomodate a horse trailer or two. And has a ready port-a-potty as well. From that parking lot I cycled east to Antietam and continued further toward mile marker 63 at Harper’s Ferry (then back to Shepherdstown, and west to Snyder’s Landing (mm 77) and then back to Shepherdstown - a 30 mile bike ride) I’d previously been on a club bike ride through Antietam, and the territory there is really stunning. Lots and lots of monuments, and history battle signage. Very moving.
While riding the C&O there are ample opportunities to get off the canal path and onto public road shoulders for some grazing time, and also some quiet time. There are hiker/cycling campgrounds very close to those two Shepherdstown parking areas.
For parking you can’t get bigger or better or most easily accessable than Brunswick, MD. However, I have yet to cycle further west than Snyder’s Landing to check out the parking - this being due to the settling in of the record July Heat Wave. Come next week (with better temps) I may be back on the path cycling from Snyder’s Landing (76 mm) to Falling Waters (93 mm) and back. There are two hiker/cycling camps along the way, but they have no parking facilities nearby.
This is a really good online map to use: http://bikewashington.org/canal/
It gives the canal breakdown in sections that are wonderful guides for riding.
I used to be a short hack away from the towpath, and would hack over fairly often. Good for galloping when our trails and fields were too wet (it is a fairly quiet stretch so not too many issues with traffic, especially midday during the week). People do camp while hiking/biking the towpath, but I don’t think there are many horse-friendly camping areas, and the campsites can occasionally get busy so your horse will need to be well suited. With proper planning, you might be able to string together some boarding facilities that would let you lay over with them. Be aware that parts of the towpath do get very crowded and busy, and some areas are rather remote- I wouldn’t want to camp there on my own.
Wow - so glad you posted this question! I have nothing to add but for me it was a nice reminder that I used to ride the canal, which was adjacent to a barn where I boarded years ago. It was a great gallop back then - we’d go out for hours and hours. I do remember one ride where we noticed a person who was birding … looking far away through binoculars for the next exciting bird … who didn’t notice at all the snake wrapped around their feet. : ) Thanks for bringing back the memories!
