So you’re thinking about a bike ride between Pittsburgh PA and Washington DC, and you don’t want to ride in traffic? That’s great! The C&O Canal Towpath has long been a favorite route, especially nice for bicycle camping. Now that the Towpath has connected Pittsburgh PA via the rail trails of the Great Allegheny Passage, the route is even better.

We begin with answers to the questions that people most often ask when they start to think about the trip, followed by suggestions about things to plan for and ideas about itineraries. At the end, we list services and amenities you may find helpful and give a table of distances between towns. With few exceptions, we include all the services we know about (mid-2007) that are within reasonable cycling distance of the trail. If you have a support car you can range farther afield, but other guides provide better coverage of those larger areas than we can possibly hope to.

For up-to-date information on services and facilities along the trail, check the Allegheny Trail Alliance website at https://gaptrail.org/. For additional planning resources, visit https://yockatomac.org.

To help you plan the classic trip between Pittsburgh and Washington — or a shorter trip along this route — we have brought together information that will help you plan your trip. These web pages are drawn from the book Linking Up: Planning Your Traffic-Free Bike Trip between Pittsburgh PA and Washington DC. You can order the book from us using via PayPal/credit card or from Amazon.com

The Great Allegheny Passage

The Great Allegheny Passage links Cumberland MD to Pittsburgh PA on rail trails, with a spur to the Pittsburgh Airport via the Montour Trail. Several trail groups develop and maintain sections of the Passage: Allegheny Highlands Trail in Maryland, Somerset County Rails to Trails Association, Regional Trail Corporation, Steel Valley Trail Council, Friends of the Riverfront, and Montour Trail.

Frequently Asked Questions Starting to Think About the Trip: The Four Big Decisions Planning Checklist Trail Surface, Terrain, and Equipment Logistics: Getting to the Trail and Home Again Finding the Trailheads Logistics: Local Transportation During the Trip Preparation What to Take Distances Between Major Trailheads Mile by Mile place Names and Mile Post conversion Sample Itineraries Shorter Trips Directions for Road Detours around Trail Gaps Resource for Planning Outfitters and Shuttle Services Bike Shops Restaurants and Grocery Stores Camping Indoor Lodging Trail Name Abbreviations

For information on food, bike shops, camping, and indoor lodging on the ATA trails between Pittsburgh and Cumberland, see the list of amenities associated with the trail maps. For the C & O Canal, see the overview map.

You may also draw inspiration from trip reports by people who have already made and enjoyed the trip.