Welcome to the C&O Canal Trust
The official nonprofit partner of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park.
Funding Priorities
Towpath Forever
Ensuring that the towpath and its resources are here forever.
Canal Classrooms
Exposing thousands of students to outdoor education programs along the Canal.
Canal Quarters
Step back in time as you spend the night in one of seven historic lockhouses.
Discover the Canal
Learn about the C&O Canal and plan your trip with our trip planning tools, mobile app, and itineraries.
Canal Community Days
Volunteer your time to help conserve the C&O Canal.
Canal Towns
Visit these ten unique destinations that border the Canal.
News
Trust Helps Celebrate the Completion of the Log Wall Stabilization Project
July 11, 2025, marked the celebration of the completion of the Log Wall, a historic drylaid stone wall, stabilization near the Carderock Recreation Area. This major $11.4M infrastructure project was made possible through the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) Legacy Restoration Fund. The stabilization focused on an approximately 1,015 linear foot long historic drylaid stone wall, which varies in height up to 35 feet tall. The wall was originally constructed between 1828 and 1831 and is often referred to as the “Log Wall,” as found in an 1890 Engineer’s Report.
The project began in 2023, following the formation of sinkholes in 2015 and 2016 above the Log Wall. These sinkholes led to the dewatering and sandbagging of the canal to preserve its structural integrity. The resulting damage left a vital section of the towpath at risk of failure, disrupting the park’s continuity and recreational opportunities. Additionally, the sinkholes increased the vulnerability of the Potomac Interceptor Combined Sewer to potential failures. Installed in the 1960s, this sewer system transports approximately 60 million gallons of combined sewage daily beneath the towpath to a treatment facility in Washington, D.C. A failure of the Log Wall could result in a leak or break in the sewer system, potentially releasing 60 million gallons of raw, untreated sewage into the Potomac River, causing widespread catastrophic damage to the ecosystem and human health.
Photo credit: NPS
Restoring the Gold Mine Forest
As the largest intact Piedmont forest in Maryland, the Gold Mine Tract in the C&O Canal National Historical Park holds special significance for park visitors and regional conservationists. Situated in the highly developed urban area of Potomac, MD, the 600-acre Gold Mine Tract provides unparalleled access to trails and recreational opportunities. This protected forest is also critical for wildlife species that depend on extensive, interconnected habitat to survive. As such vital areas continue to disappear, wildlife populations, including interior forest birds, begin to decline due to unmet habitat needs.
Photo credit: Francis Grant-Suttie
Trust Celebrates Cappetta’s 37 Years of Service
C&O Canal National Historical Park Superintendent Tina Cappetta retires from the National Park Service. Photo courtesy of NPS.
In June, the C&O Canal Trust’s Board of Directors and staff gathered to celebrate C&O Canal National Historical Park Superintendent Tina Cappetta’s retirement from the National Park Service after a 37-year career of service.
“After 37 years of working in America’s most treasured places with some of its finest public servants, I’m hanging up my ranger hat for good. I’m ending on a career high – working with the partnership of the C&O Canal Trust and a top-notch park management team led by Ed Wenschhof.”
Cappetta’s tenure as Superintendent of the C&O Canal began in January 2020, following nearly nine years as Superintendent of Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, Hampton National Historic Site, and Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail. Over her 37-year National Park Service career, she held positions in 10 parks around the nation, including at the Women’s Rights National Historical Park in upstate New York, where she also served as Superintendent. From 2002 to 2004, Cappetta served as Chief of Resources Management at the C&O Canal.
(more…)
Shaping the Future Through Canal Classrooms
The Canal Classrooms program, offered since 2013 and supported by the C&O Canal Trust, currently provides experiential learning opportunities to K-12 students in Montgomery, Washington, and Allegany Counties in Maryland. This is accomplished via STEAM-based curricula (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) taught by the Canal Classrooms Corps (CCC), a cadre of retired teachers, local educators, professionals, and volunteers. To date, over 70,000 students have participated in Canal Classrooms, including many who attend Title 1 schools. (more…)
On Wednesday mornings, Eddie Rivas wakes up early, putting on his uniform — tan pants and a bright orange polo shirt. He grabs his hat, backpack, and lunch, and is out the door before 9 am. Surprisingly, Eddie is not headed to school; he is on his way to the C&O Canal National Historical Park. Since 2016, Eddie has been a member of the Canal Classrooms Corps, teaching countless students about the park’s canal system, ecology, and natural history.
Photos by NPS and Trust Staff
Williamsport Canal Community Days 2025
Williamsport Cushwa Basin by Beth Sherwood.
Situated at the meeting point of the Potomac River and Conococheague Creek, Williamsport holds a significant place in American and C&O Canal history. Before it was a Canal Town, Williamsport was used as a trading location and transportation hub for groups of Indigenous people. As European settlers moved westward, they too recognized the area’s potential to move goods east and west on the Potomac, and north to what would become Hagerstown. The growing nation developed Williamsport into a center for commerce and trade, first through the C&O Canal and later via railroads and trolleys. It remained a critical juncture for moving people and goods through World War II, when its prosperity began to decline. Aided by the establishment of the C&O Canal National Historical Park and new highway systems, Williamsport now flourishes as a vital C&O Canal Town and a hub for tourism. (more…)
C&O Canal Explorer
Mobile App
Download our new mobile app to your Android or Apple phone and explore the C&O Canal in a whole new way. Get the app!
Stay The Night at a Lockhouse
Canal Quarters lockhouses offer a historic, recreational, and educational experience like no other. Book your stay today!
Enter our Monthly Photo Contest
The C&O Canal Trust sponsors a monthly photo contest highlighting the best photos you have taken of the C&O Canal National Historical Park. Find out how to enter here!
