Big Slackwater is the pool formed by Dam 4. Pictured below is Augustus Asbury Hebb’s canal boat # 6 in Big Slackwater. I am happy to finally be able to tell visitors that, "Yes! You can now explore the canal in its entirety, 184.5 miles, from start to finish." This much-anticipated project signified the completion of the canal once again and the reconstruction of the infamous missing link. However, this missing section also represented to many visitors that, despite their best efforts, they were incapable of biking the entire 184.5 miles of C&O Canal.īut, this has now changed! In the summer of 2010, the National Park Service began reconstructing the missing section of towpath and it was completed in the fall of 2012. Undoubtedly, it was an inconvenience to leave the peaceful serenity of nature along towpath to bike 4.5 miles on winding and narrow country back roads. In 1996, severe flooding caused extensive damage to the towpath, making this section of the historic canal impassible for over 15 years.įor pedestrians and bicyclists traveling the canal, the missing section was first seen as a nuisance. C&O Canal Company engineers chose to utilize the pools behind Dam 4 and Dam 5 rather than dig a canal prism because of rocky cliffs along the river. Canal boats once entered the river here as the mules continued walking along the towpath. It is this 2.7 mile stretch, commonly known as Big Slackwater, that I pointed out to visitors as the only "missing link" along the historic canal.īig Slackwater is downstream from McMahon's Mill. The 10-foot wide dirt/gravel towpath was continuous, all 184.5 miles, except for one small section between mileposts 84 and 89. On a map, the C&O Canal meanders from Cumberland to Georgetown, hugging the Potomac River nearly the entire way. with the exception of Big Slackwater." It had been nearly 15 years since a park ranger, like myself, could say, "Yes!" Without trying to dash their enthusiasm, I would smile and reply "Almost. It is that last question that I always hated answering. "When did the canal operate?" "What was life like for the people working the canal boats?" "What are the conditions of the towpath?" "Can you really bike from here (Cumberland) to Georgetown on the towpath?" ![]() After several years at the C&O Canal's Cumberland Visitor Center, I've found that most visitors ask many of the same questions.
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