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

At Vienna going west is less busy and less stops. I’ve done Shirlington (DC) to Vienna and it was too busy, with big intersections. When I ride during the weekday mornings there’s hardly anybody out, it’s the best time.

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.

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.

I brought my son-in-law here for the day. With the recent geocache hides, we enjoyed our experience. Our ride and find trek also included posing for a discovered game cam pic, staying off a split rail fence decorated with a emphatic warning, swerving around a orange piling to miss a trail washout, jumping over a green and black snake and turning around at Cypher Station for the return gradual ascending route to Tatesville. Don’t know if we will return to finish the rest to Riddlesburg but appreciate the different parking waypoint accesses. Not our best rail trail but sufficient for “our time”.

I have been enjoying the C&O Canal towpath since I was a boy -- but I went for a bike ride yesterday (May 10, 2020) at the Monocacy Aqueduct and the path is now paved (I assume it's considered crushed stone). Yep, it's now "new and improved" -- not. One problem is that the trail now has a lower shoulder than the paved road. If you happen to get too close to the edge or pull off, you've got a bit of a dropoff which could be problematic. Another problem is that some of my fellow bicyclers seem to love the new surface as they now go flying even faster than before. Hiking on the paved trail is certainly not as nice as the previous dirt path. The feeling of getting away from it all has diminished and the trail has lost some of its charm. It no longer appears to be a path in the woods from a bygone era, but simply another bike trail. Pedestrians beware.

Even on a COLD WINDY May day, there were lots of walkers, joggers, and some bikers. Steep on either end of the trail and I’m guessing 6-8’ wide so 2 bikers can safely but SLOWLY pass. Lots of smooth, elevated trail & bridges (lots of warning signs “Slippery When Wet”) Would be very nice in heat of summer since it’s shaded the entire route & alongside the stream. Trail is in the floodplain so would not be advisable when streams are up.

We biked round trip from the Newville area to Shippensburg University. It’s a gravel path and well traveled by cyclists, runners, and horseback riders. A gem of a route connecting two very quaint PA towns.