![]() The shortcut around the Paw Paw Bends is over rocky terrain, so the canal bed had to be blasted out of the rocks, not simply dug into the dirt as is typically done when the canal follows closely to the river. You are now walking through what is known as the Big Cut. Of course you’d have to be insane to hike back over the mountain, so when you reach the towpath take a left to return via the tunnel. In fact, it doesn’t even take into account the mile round-trip walk from the parking lot. The National Park Service states that the trail’s distance is 2 miles, but that is from the trailhead at the upstream tunnel entrance to this point and does not take into consideration the walk back, either over the mountain or through the tunnel. Instead, it meanders down the mountain and reaches the towpath about. This was the towpath when the C&O Canal was in operation the canal is on your left.Īs mentioned earlier, the Paw Paw Tunnel Hill Trail does not come out on the other side of the mountain at the tunnel entrance like it does at the start. C&O Canal - Paw Paw Tunnel Fishing Access is a fishing access on Dawson Run, Potomac River, and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. The tunnel and trailhead themselves are located a half mile down from the Paw Paw Tunnel parking area-which is at the Paw Paw Tunnel Campground-at the end of a gravel road. The only downside is that you may step into a water-filled pot hole every now and then. However, I did not have one and made it through without a problem, so it can be done. It is advised to bring a flashlight, not only so you can make it safely in the dark, but also so you can see the interior features. There’s no sense hiking back to the starting point by going over the mountain a second time, so make a loop out of the hike and return through the tunnel. It starts near the tunnel’s upstream entrance and comes out on the other side of the mountain on the C&O Canal towpath just a short ways from the tunnel’s downstream entrance. The Paw Paw Tunnel Hill Trail (aka Tunnel Bypass Trail) in Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park takes hikers up and over the mountain that the Paw Paw Tunnel was cut through. Illustration of the canal route using the Paw Paw Tunnel (click to enlarge) ![]() Work began in 1836, and when the tunnel opened in 1850, twelve years behind schedule, it had cost $600,000. ![]() With an estimated cost of $33,000 and a completion date of two years, it was decided to tunnel through the mountain, a decision that nearly bankrupted the C&O Canal Company. The only problem was that there was a mountain in the way. Boats would leave the canal and travel directly on the river.Ī second option was to create a nearly six-mile shortcut around the Bends by cutting through the interior. One, they could dam the Potomac at the downstream end of the Bends so that the river could be made deeper and thus navigable at all times. Cutting a canal into the rock along the river would have been next to impossible, so canal engineers had two choices. ![]() Over the course of six miles, the river zigzags three times and is flanked by rock cliffs. The Paw Paw Tunnel is located in a mountainous area of the Potomac River Valley known as the Paw Paw Bends. When planning an adventure within Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, make sure that areas you plan to visit are open by checking the National Park Service’s official Current Park Conditions web page. Hopefully you have remembered to bring a flashlight because the 3,118-foot tunnel (more than a half-mile long) will plunge your dog into complete darkness.NOTE: Sections of the towpath, locks and other historical structures, trails, campgrounds, picnic areas, boat ramps, and visitor centers are constantly being closed due to damage and/or repair. One of the most unique hikes you can take with your dog starts in a paw-friendly national park service campground and travels a short distance on the well-maintained towpath of the canal until you reach the Paw Paw Tunnel. In the 1950s he spearheaded an adventurous hike along its 185 miles, a stretch he called “one of the most fascinating and picturesque in the Nation.” In 1971 the park along its route became a reality. Douglas was the principle cheerleader to save the canal for recreation purposes. It never reached its intended destination and saw its last commercial traffic in 1924. Encased in the six million bricks used to build the Paw Paw Tunnel at Mile 155 on the canal are tales of unpaid wages, immigrant worker abuse, labor unrest, and even murder. Fourteen years later - with a cost overrun of 500% - the 26-foot high tunnel was opened. Instead, the pace was more like 12 feet a week. The Paw Paw Tunnel is a 3,118-foot-long canal tunnel on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Allegany County, Maryland. Rosy-eyed planners began work on the tunnel in 1836 with a goal of 7-8 feet gained a day. ![]()
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