LITTLE ORLEANS, Md. (AP) — The National Park Service says a rock slide has closed the Paw Paw Tunnel in the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park.
The agency said Tuesday that the slide occurred Sunday on a 100-foot section of the canal towpath east of the tunnel near Little Orleans.
The tunnel and part of the hiking-and-biking trail will be closed until further notice.
The agency says trail users can use the Paw Paw Tunnel Hill Trail as a detour. The hill trail is a rugged, two-mile footpath along the top of the hill.
The Paw Paw Tunnel was built in the 1830s and ’40s to bypass a series of sharp bends in Potomac River. It runs for three-fifths of a mile through a mountain ridge in southern Allegany County.
(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
