The Ultimate GAP and C&O Trail Bike Tour

New for 2027, our Pittsburgh to D.C. Bike Tour is now a 7-day biking vacation, providing a complete experience on one of the most famous rails-to-trails corridors in the United States. Join us for this new spin on a classic tour and see what makes Wilderness Voyageurs the Rail-Trail Experts on the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal Towpath.

Pittsburgh to DC on the Famous GAP & C&O Canal Trails

Condé Nast magazine included this unique trail system in its “most beautiful rail-trail list,” and you’ll quickly see why. On your way from Point State Park in Pittsburgh, PA, to Washington, DC, the multitude of natural, cultural, and historically significant sites will astound you.

The initial 150 miles of this tour are on the Great Allegheny Passage from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, MD, located on abandoned railroad beds. The final 184.5 miles from Cumberland, MD, to downtown Washington, DC, are on the C&O Canal Towpath, the heart of the C&O Canal National Park. The tranquility and the beauty of this park, located in the middle of the suburban east coast, are unbelievable. Read our in-depth blog post on the C&O Canal Towpath History here. 

Talk about bucket list opportunities! Visit three states- PA, MD, WV, land in the District of Columbia, and pass through four national parks – C&O Canal, Antietam Battlefield, Harpers Ferry, and Rock Creek Park.

The 300+ miles of car-free rail trails begin just outside of Pittsburgh, PA. It won’t be long until the buildings are exchanged for a canopy of trees. We start at 761 feet in elevation, cross the Continental Divide at 2,932 feet, and end at sea level. Along the way, ride past remnants of the early 1900s industrial revolution when Pittsburgh Steel was king. All of this happens with a maximum grade of 2% with only a very few exceptions.

While the grade is quite friendly, keep in mind that the daily distance averages 50 miles a day.  To maximize your enjoyment of the tour, we recommend riding an average of 9 miles per hour.

Custom bike tour departures available for groups of 6 or more. Request a Tour Itinerary for more detailed information and logistics.

Day 1: We meet at the Wilderness Voyageurs homebase in the outdoor enthusiasts paradise of Ohiopyle, followed by a shuttle to Pittsburgh, where our cycling adventure commences! From Bicycle Heaven, the world’s largest bicycle museum, we ride across the Allegheny River, one of the three rivers coming together at Point State Park, the GAP’s western terminus. The Monongahela River meets the Allegheny to form the Ohio, giving the city its affectionate “River City” nickname. Then we ride Pittsburgh’s incredible urban bike paths to the Homestead Pumphouse. The region’s industrial history comes to life as we ride past former steel mill sites and along the bottom portion of the Youghiogheny (Yough for short, pronounced yawk) River, ending the day in Connellsville. This former coal patch town is best known as the historic “Coke Capital of the World” due to its massive production of high-grade coke used in the early 20th-century steel industry.

Day 2: On today’s itinerary is a short morning ride through an entrancing green tunnel of trees, providing pleasant shade for miles through Ohiopyle State Park. Pass over two spectacular bridges— a 100-foot-high railroad bridge with views of Class II and III rapids below, and the award-winning Yough River Trail bridge, then land in the quaint borough of Ohiopyle, where Wilderness Voyageurs resides! After lunch we give our biking muscles a rest to discover a Laurel Highlands gem, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A professional guide leads us through the architectural masterpiece that cantilevers over a waterfall on Bear Run. At the end of the day, we shuttle to The Historic Summit Inn to decompress for the night.

Day 3:  Wake up at the Summit and step out onto the veranda, where on a clear day, it’s possible to see all the way to Pittsburgh! Today we tackle a 73-mile ride, 23 of which are downhill, through three rail tunnels and over the Eastern Continental Divide. Follow the meandering Middle Yough, the very waters George Washington paddled. After a support stop, travel a short distance along the Casselman River through a region once known for logging and coal mining. Today, the area is dominated by active wind farms. Soon enough, we are up and over the Eastern Continental Divide and cruising down into Cumberland, Maryland, our resting place for the evening, and where the GAP meets the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal Towpath.

Day 4: Say farewell to the GAP and hello to the C&O! Sites today include aqueducts, locks, lock houses, and colonial and Native American settlements, and the 3⁄4-mile-long Paw Paw Tunnel. Fun Fact: Paw Paw Tunnel took its name from the paw paw, a native fruit nicknamed the “West Virginia banana” and “hillbilly mango,” as it tastes like a mix of the two. The ride continues through Greenridge State Forest and Little Orleans before concluding in Hancock, Maryland. We unwind at a historic inn adorned with English gardens and within walking distance of galleries and antique shops.

Day 5:  Great stone dams, bridges, and aqueducts characterize today’s ride. These monuments stand as a testament to the hard work and ingenuity of a largely immigrant labor force who tried to tame the Potomac River through times of war and flooding. Explore the stone Fort Frederick, one of the largest fortifications built by English colonists in North America, in the morning. Lunch at the Cushwa Basin in Williamsport, Maryland, showcases a former canal boat turning basin, where boats could once turn around when the canal was in operation. This evening, rest and relax in Shepherdstown, West Virginia at the Bavarian Inn, an award-winning, European-inspired boutique resort and destination in itself.

Day 6: 19th century history takes center stage today as we make our way through two states, beginning in West Virginia and ending in Maryland.The day’s ride straddles the dividing line between the North and South along the Potomac River. We pass through Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, where the Shenandoah River feeds into the Potomac. The town offers a dramatic landscape, historic shops, and cobblestone streets. Known for John Brown’s rebellion, Harpers Ferry was the site of many key conflicts in the war. We end our day in Frederick, Maryland, at the Visitation Hotel, a 200-year-old Catholic monastery and girls boarding school transformed into a luxury boutique hotel.

Day 7: Today’s ride takes us through the impressive, river-wide Great Falls of the Potomac before the countryside begins to peel back and give way to the buzz of our nation’s capital, Washington D.C. Our epic cycling journey comes to an end at the Thompson Boat House and Mile 0 in Georgetown! We say our goodbyes to those staying in Washington, D.C., then shuttle back to Ohiopyle.