Besides a mile or two of winding through York City that required stopping for heavy traffic in spots, the trail is awesome. It’s divided into North and South Sections with the the Southern Section being much longer and historic. Also the southern section has many more road crossings with one or two that you HAVE to dismount to be safe with heavy traffic. Even though it seems like common sense on a hot summer day; I found hydrating often on the return trip was vitally important especially if your wearing a helmet (they are required, but not all riders wore them). There is a small restaurant right off the trail in New Freedom, but with COVID 19 and probably because of the National Coin shortage, they only accept cards.So far its the best trail I’ve biked on overall!

I parked at the York Heritage Rail Trail NE Extension Rt30 Parking Lot to go biking. From there you can walk or bike north and go on a very pretty, well maintained loop for about 5 miles (bathrooms at the park at the end.). If that’s enough for you, it’s a great Trailhead. I rode that north section, then came back and went south from my start point. The first part is a very open section that runs along the creek and has cool views of the city skyline. This then takes you into York city and you must go through some sketchy neighborhoods for a mile or two. After that, you are back in the trail; it runs along the actual rail and it’s wooded and quiet. I saw a deer lazily wandering across the track. If it wasn’t for the couple of miles that made me nervous, I’d give this 5 stars. I will go again but park south of York.

Rode the C&O 6/14/2020 from Lock 23 to Edwards Ferry and back on trusty 2003 Gary Fisher Marlin MTB. My road bike would have been shattered to bits with the gravel, rocks and mud. Did try a small section of the resurfaced trail north of Edwards Ferry. WOW! They can’t resurface Swains Lock to Edwards Ferry fast enough for me. I’ll be making a donation to the project today, even with the COVID Shutdown. Find out more on trail status at https://www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit/towpath-resurfacing-project.htm

Loved this trail! Easy ride with kids of all ages. We started on the paved trail turning right at the Williamsburg trailhead. After a few miles it changed to gravel which was still easy to ride. We were met by a chicken and rooster who came over from a nearby farm to see us. There’s a small ice cream store at the trailhead which was great on a hot day.

Rode C&O canal towpath from mile19 to mile36 and back in early June 2020. Experienced both surfaces (improved and original). I would say that the original is more visually appealing and friendly to walkers (less dust), and the improved is more friendly to bikers elbow and butt (less vibrations). On weekday there is not many people there and it’s great to enjoy the nature, get some exercises, and meditate, yes meditate!

My kids did the whole trail and back. Granted we had a picnic for lunch and many breaks. It took us 8 hours to do it. The fun things to cross over and through happen at Newville and northward for a few miles. The rail cars are only at the Shippensburg Trail head. Other than those things there is just trees and farmland to see.

Lots of shade.

Easy, clean trail. Lots of shade.

All of it is crushed stone except at the places you can get on the trail its asphalt. then its just a very short distance back to the crush stone.