Appalachian Trail and C&O Canal — Attraction in Harpers Ferry

Great trail access, but beware that there is a train crossing here on the Appalachian Trail (but not on the C&O tow path), and sometimes the trains stop here. Last time we had to wait about 30 minutes for two trains to clear... They both had stopped at this crossing. I asked one of the engineers (who had got off the train to look around) and he said it could be anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 hours... So 30 minutes...

Yes, you can access the AT here but you can also hit the C & O Bike Path as well as the Potomac River, which is what I came for. Its a bit of a hike if you're carrying a paddleboard (as we did) or a kayak but easy as a tube launch spot. You have to walk over the train tracks, across the the bike path and then follow a trial, that can be muddy, down and out to the river. It gets SUPER crowded on the weekends,...

Great trail. The canal trail is flat and very easy. I started at the Weverton Cliffs parking lot. The trail to the canal is a bit more challenging, but not difficult.The trail to the canal is narrow and rocky. I went after snow had melted so the path was very muddy and a bit dangerous, one slip and you could fall a bit far down onto rocks. It's a short trail to the canal, but take precaution if the...