News Release

C&O Canal Invites Public Comment on Proposal to Improve Safety in the Paw Paw Tunnel Hollow

Date: June 25, 2020
Contact: Christiana Hanson, 301-491-6265

HAGERSTOWN, Md. – The National Park Service (NPS) invites public comment through July 25 on a proposal to improve visitor safety near the Paw Paw Tunnel Hollow in Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. This section of the park, between mile marker 155 and the downstream portal of the Paw Paw Tunnel, has experienced rockfalls and landslides that present a safety hazard to park visitors.  

For this project, the park proposes to: 

• Remove rocks and debris from a landslide in 2016. 

• Stabilize the rock faces on both sides of the towpath and boardwalk. 

• Replace the wooden pedestrian boardwalk.    

The Paw Paw Tunnel is one of the most significant engineering features along the canal. To save building six miles of canal along the river, the C&O Canal Company decided to construct a tunnel through a steep ridge now called Tunnel Hill. The 3,118-foot tunnel took 14 years to complete and first opened in 1850. Today, visitors come to the tunnel to view this engineering feat and hike the Tunnel Hill Trail, a two-mile trail that traverses the top of the mountain where laborers lived during the construction period. 

How to Comment: Public participation is vital to our planning process, which is conducted in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). There are two ways to comment: 

• Online through the Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) website (preferred method) at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/pawpawrockfall2020 

• By mail comments postmarked no later than  July 25 or 30 days after release, 2020 to: 
  
  Tina Cappetta, Superintendent 
  C&O Canal National Historical Park 
  ATTN: Paw Paw Rockfall Mitigation 
  1850 Dual Highway, Suite 100
  Hagerstown, MD 21740