You can now create your own itineraries to guide your C&O Canal exploration, or you can copy one of ours! Learn more about Itineraries.
If you have toured the C&O Canal, chances are you have learned a lot about the history of transportation and the Civil War. The only thing missing from your experience is the boat. Learn more.
If you have toured the C&O Canal, chances are you have learned a lot about the history of transportation and the Civil War. The only thing missing from your experience is the boat. Enter “The Cumberland” – a 93-foot long, 14.5 foot-wide replica canal boat. Here you will find guides in period clothing educating visitors about the history of the C&O Canal and daily life aboard a canal boat. You’ll be able to tour the mule shed, hay house, and furnished Captain’s cabin. Constructed in 1976 as a bicentennial project for the C&O Canal, the full-sized replica is also used to interpret the canal story to school children. A typical canal boat hauled 120 tons of cargo and made the trip from Cumberland to Georgetown in five days.
We know that to preserve something, you need to experience it, so we are proud to provide support to the C&O National Historical Park as their official philanthropic partner.
Please visit the National Park Service website for the following information:
For more information and nearby places to stay or grab a bite to eat, please visit our local tourism partners:
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C&O Canal Explorer!
There has been a lapse in appropriations, and a shutdown of the federal government is currently in effect. Much of the C&O Canal National Historical Park remains accessible to the public, however, the National Park Service is not able to operate as normal. Scheduled C&O Canal Trust events and Canal Quarters reservations will continue as scheduled.
Learn more about what the shutdown means for the C&O Canal National Historical Park.