The Paw Paw Tunnel is a 3,118-foot-long canal tunnel on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Allegany County, Maryland. Located near Paw Paw, West Virginia, it was built to bypass the Paw Paw Bends, a six-mile stretch of the Potomac River containing five horseshoe-shaped bends.
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The 1/2 mile tunnel is mostly dry and cool and feels really good on a hot summer day. The cement path is along one side of the brick tunnel, and you will have people coming from the opposite direction right next to you or possibly people passing you from behind. The path is "flat" but uneven with some areas that dip down that you could twist an ankle in or step wrong off the higher pavement if you don't have a flashlight. A metal guardrail protects you from falling into the canal. A few areas were a little muddy from the water dripping down the tunnel. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it is is farther than it appears.
We brought a good head lantern but a flash light would work fine too.
In the time of COVID-19 in June 2021, no one was wearing a mask since it was outside. You are passing within a foot of other people, and I was wondering how good the air flow was 500 - 800 feet in the tunnel, since I did not feel any breeze. We had about a dozen people pass us from the other direction and no one wore a mask and many people said "hi." I am vaccinated and didn't get sick, so I guess it was okay, but if you are unvaccinated or more cautious, then bring a mask.
We were camping in Green Ridge State Forest. We started from Tunnel Hill up on the mountain at the Tow Path detour parking lot on Green Ridge State Forest. We parked at the wrong parking lot (not the tunnel parking lot further down) and the dirt roads were very rutted with water going down further so we were a bit worried we would get stuck even with an SUV.
We started the trail from the parking lot at 900 feet. We walked down around 250-300 feet down the path. At the bottom on the left was a dip and a bridge. Turn left to the tunnel. The right was to the parking lot we thought we were going to but it looked much further than we hiked.
It took about 30 minutes for us to walk down the mountain trail to the tunnel. It was a nice hike looking down at the trees and river at times.
You need good traction on your shoes - not rocky but some areas of loose pebbles and you are walking...
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I walked through the tunnel a number if years ago, alone about 2am. I had my camera taking pics as I walked and also used it as a way to see. From the beginning I felt that I was not alone there was something or someone with me. Got a pic of a huge orb sitting on the hand rail..I also later saw that throughout my walk there seemed to be this creature for lack of another word that followed me .it was bat like and showed up in my pics. It is SO Drk you cannot see your hands in front of you. ..then the batteries went dead...now I really could not see. I had extr batteries on me but I had to feel my way through opening my camera and getting the new batteries in correctly. As soon as I put the new ones in the camera flashed.later going over my pics I saw that I was not alone.when my camera flashed when I put the new batteries in there was a man there. He was right there with me.he had dark hair and his teeth looked bad. He had to be kneeling or bending down with me as I was trying to blindly get the batteries in I had the camera on the ground while I was fiddling with the batteries so when it flashed it caught him watching me. Got some cool...
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Unique experience between Hancock, MD and Cumberland, MD. We stopped on a Monday evening in November. It was a quick half mile-ish hike from the parking area to the tunnel on a wide flat stone trail. The side we started on was boarded up for the season but there is a door. It’s dark - bring a flashlight. It is somewhat creepy. It’s under a mile from one end to the other. You will see the light at the other end of the tunnel and it doesnt look far but it felt like we were walking and not getting any closer like an optical illusion. The trail continues on the other side. I had been here once before and hiked up over the mountain on the trail to get back. The sign says it’s strenuous but I don’t remember it being too bad. I’d wear hiking shoes for sure if you want to do that. We just walked back through the tunnel this time because we were short on daylight. There are port-o-potties in the parking area and also one right outside of the tunnel on the park side. If you gotta go but prefer a real restroom there is a convenience store not far...
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