The C & O Canal Companion

by Mike High

The first comprehensive guide to one of America's unique national parks, The C& O Canal Companion takes readers on a mile-by-mile tour of the C& O Canal, the 184-mile Potomac River waterway that stretches from Washington, D.C., to the Appalachian Mountains. Outdoorsman and writer Mike High has spent many hours exploring the C& O Canal, asking questions, making notes, taking photographs, and conducting research to assemble this informative and user-friendly book. Beautifully illustrated with photographs and drawings, the guide blends history, nature writing, and tour-guide tips to create the only book of its kind. High offers practical advice on cycling, canoeing, birdwatching, and other pastimes along the canal and river. Exploring the canal's history, he relates the early struggles to build a trade route to the Ohio Valley and gives in-depth coverage to the Civil War years, when the canal became a dividing line between North and South. He also explains the nineteenth-century technology of the canal--how it worked and how its operations were related to water-driven mills and ironworks along the river. For the convenience of visitors to the canal, High provides a helpful appendix of names and telephone numbers for hotels, bed-and-breakfasts, bicycle shops, river outfitters, nearby parks, campsites, and regional associations. The C& O Companion is both a pleasure for the airmchair tourist to read and an indispensible guide for anyone planning a hiking, camping, or cycling adventure along this remarkable landmark.

280 pages, Paperback

First published April 9, 1997

Reviews

[Jwt Jan50 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grew up around Washington DC and use to walk the lower portion of the Canal above Georgetown as well as climbing on the rocks in the summer. Used to always look north from the lock by the parking lot on the Maryland side and dream about riding a bike north. So, on completing Fermor's A Time of Gifts, I called an old Navy buddy and we decided to plan a bike trip down the Canal. High's book was a great source of information about the Canal, the trail and two centuries of life along the trail. We went in the late fall staying at B&B's with a side trip to Antietam. You can do it in 5 days maybe 6. Hancock, Harpers Ferry, Leesburg (George Marshall house/museum) and finally, into Georgetown. The tunnel is spooky.