Bicycling and the PHT network

Visitors bike past a lockhouse along the C&O Canal Towpath.

NPS Photo / Monica Larcom

Plan a bicycling trip through the network of communities that coexist along the Potomac Heritage Trail.

 

Great Allegany Passage and Eastern Continental Divide

• Ohiopyle State Park to Confluene Pennsylvania
• Big Savage Tunnel
• Mountain Biking The Eastern Continental Divide
• Mountain Biking Marsh Mountain to Fork Mountain
• Wright Ride Along the Great Allegheny Passage
• The Cumberland Coast along the Great Allegheny Passage

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

• Explore Hancock: From Rail to Canal to Bicycling Town
• Whitetail—Dam 5 Tour
• Williamsport, MD
• Camp Harding—Fort Frederick Tour
• Visit Brunswick
• Downtown Frederick and the C&O Canal
• Journey Along the C&O Canal Towpath and Western Maryland Rail Trail
• Historic Shepherdstown
• Bike Monocacy Aqueduct to Brunswick
• Point of Rocks and the Civil War Along the C&O Canal
• Shepherdstown and Sharpsburg: A Tour of Two Towns
• Shepherdstown—Taylors Landing Loop
• South Mountain—Sharpsburg Tour
• Birding By Day, A Night In Pennyfield Lockhouse
• Around Glen Echo and Great Falls
• Abner Cloud’s Georgetown

Northern Virginia

• Loudoun’s Potomac Heritage
• Alexandria’s Canal Trail
• Prince William Forest Park

Southern Maryland

• Fort Washington and Oxon Hill
• Explore Port Tobacco on the River
• Visit Indian Head, MD and Mattawoman Creek
• A 5-Day Trip from Fort Washington to Point Lookout
• Point Lookout to Leonardtown
• St. Mary’s “L” Loop
• Where the Potomac and the Chesapeake Meet

Northern Neck of Virginia

• Leedstown Loop
• Heathsville Bicycling Loop
• Stratford Hall/Currioman Landing Loop
• Reedville/Vir-Mar Beach/Smith Point Bicycling Loop
• Kinsale/Sandy Point Loop
• Bicycling Arlington Memorial Bridge to Reedville

 

Plan an overnight or a through-trip

• Begin by George Washington's Birthplace NM on the and travel to Reedville/Smith Point/Heathsville.
• Charter a boat for travel to Point Lookout in southern Maryland
• Ride north for 180 miles or so via an on-road bicycling route to Oxon Cove Park, passing Leonardtown, Piscataway Park and many historic sites and state parks
• Cross the Woodrow Wilson Bridge to Alexandria and ride the Mount Vernon Trail
• Cross the Arlington Memorial Bridge to Washington, DC and ride north along the Potomac River into Georgetown, DC
• Ride the 184.5-mile towpath in Chesapeake & Ohio Canal to Cumberland, MD
• Ride 73 miles on the Great Allegheny Passage rail-trail to Ohiopyle for the 70-mile Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail and continue to Point State Park in Pittsburgh, PA.

Additional Links

• Amtrak Capitol Limited roll-on bicycle service
• Adventure Cycling Association Tidewater Potomac Heritage map set
• Northern Neck of Virginia