The Route

For this adventure, I combined two trails, the Great Allegheny Passage from Pittsburgh, PA, to Cumberland, MD where I will pick up the C&O Canal Trail all the way into Washington DC.  Altogether, the CAP-CO trip is about 335 miles in length.

Great Allegheny Passage webpage

C&O Canal Trail webpage

The GAP-CO traverses the Appalachian Mountains summiting at the eastern continental divide.  Luckily for riders in marginal physical shape like myself, it utilizes existing infrastructure engineering from the railroad (GAP) and canal (C&O) so the grade is gradual in both directions.