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| | CO Canal MP 156.0-166.7, MD | | | |
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CO Canal MP 156.0-166.7, MD
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| Hiking | 11.75 Miles |
172 AEG |
| | Hiking | 11.75 Miles | 3 Hrs 41 Mns | | 3.19 mph |
| 172 ft AEG | | | | |
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| Partners |
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none
[ show ]
| no partners | | Camping is $20 / night and reservations are required at Paw Paw Tunnel Campground (MP 156.0), where I started. At least parking is free.
Though warmer than on Good Friday, it was still chilly when I started hiking at 9:45 a.m., wearing my hoodie. After lunch, I had to tie it around my waist, as I only carried a Camelbak.
Purslane Run Campground is a normal C&O Canal towpath campground. And free. It has a portapotty, picnic table, grill, fire pit, direction & distance sign and trash bag dispenser. The well hand pump only took one pump before it gave water. Have I mentioned it’s free?
Just past Purslane Run Campground, is the first of many river flats & flood plains that used to be farmland. (If they were still in use, crops would be growing by now.)
There is not much else the first three miles of this C&O Canal towpath segment. I saw a number of rough looking trailers and cabins on both sides of the Potomac River. I assumed they were fishing camps. I heard no banjos.
I learn something new every hike on the C&O Canal, and today I learned more than normal. What I thought when I passed by MP 160.2 was a culvert, is in fact a “waste weir”, which allowed canal operators to drain excess water from the C&O Canal. I also learned the proper name for a canal bed is “prism”, because the top canal of the bed is wider than the bottom, and thus prism-shaped.
Town Creek Campground has a portapotty, two picnic tables, a grill, two fire pits, a direction & distance sign, a trash bag dispenser, and a well hand pump. (Normally, there is only one of everything.) There is grassy access right to the edge of the Potomac River, with beautiful views up & down stream. 
Just beyond the campground is Town Creek Aqueduct. A single-span aqueduct finished in 1850, it is made of sandstone and “b@st@rd limestone”. (Probably named after the original contractor, who absconded mid-project.)
The C&O Canal is dammed at Town Creek Aqueduct, so that the next two miles upstream are navigable by kayaks. Other than jillions of turtles on logs in the pond — which would slide into the water whenever I got close — there are few photographic opportunities until Crabtree’s Lock 68.
The well hand pump at Crabtree’s Lock 68 and Potomac Forks Campground (MP 164.7) is non-functional due to completely lacking mechanicals.
After a bone dry patch, a fair number of folks were fishing the C&O Canal above and below Twigg’s Lock 69 (MP 166.4). Known as Battie Mixon’s Pond, it is stocked by Maryland DNR, and contains bluegill, sunfish, channel catfish, smallmouth bass, crappie, shiners and even trout. Visible just a few hundred yards ahead is Oldtown Lock 70, and the trailhead where I finished my hike.
Hike Video: https://vimeo.com/819487868 |
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Wildflowers Observation Light
Virginia bluebell (of course), plenty of Eastern spring beauty and common blue violet, plus dusky yellow violet, dandelions, ground ivy, bloodroot, Persian speedwell and purple dead nettle. I don't think I saw a single flower the final three miles to Oldtown. |
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| http://prestonm.com : Everyone's enjoyment of the outdoors is different and should be equally honored. |
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