C&O Canal Extension

Now you can ride or walk from Washington DC to Pittsburgh PA.

Any portion of the trail that you were to carve out would reward you with a delightful walk or ride. Taken as a 316-mile whole, you're on sensory overload (although some senses are stronger than others at the end of a 60-mile day on the bike).

The western 132 miles are a smooth path of crushed stone that is built into the right of way of an old rail line that ran from Pittsburgh to Cumberland. It was finished in 2006. The rest of the 184-mile journey to Washington, D.C. is more established -- and slightly more rugged, with tire-eating roots and rocks dotting the trail. The old C&O towpath was rescued from highway developers in 1954 after a public wrangle led by Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, and while it is kept clear of fallen timber, it's otherwise left alone.

Reading through that brief description, you might have looked past the best part: Rail lines and canals tend to be fairly flat, since trains loaded with coal can't easily climb more than a 2 percent grade, and water can't run uphill except with the help of man-made locks. So even though the trail cuts through some of the hilliest country east of the Mississippi, there are no gut-wrenching climbs for bikers to face, particularly for those heading east.

The eastern continental divide is roughly a third of the way to D.C., rising gently up about 1,600 feet during the 110 miles from McKeesport. Heading the other way, west to the divide from Mile Post Zero in Georgetown, the trail climbs nearly the full 2,375 feet above sea level. It's spread out across almost 200 miles but gets steeper toward the continental divide. Either way you do it, the first part of the trip goes up, the second part goes down.