C&O Canal Trail's Paw Paw Towpath Reopens
LITTLE ORLEANS, Md. (AP) -- The National Park Service says the Paw Paw Tunnel in the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park has been reopened following repairs prompted by a January rock slide.
The slide occurred in 100-foot section of the canal towpath east of the tunnel near Little Orleans. That forced trail users to detour onto 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.
The tunnel closure created a gap in the Great Allegheny Passage, a nearly level trail system that allows bicyclists and hikers to travel from Washington to Homestead, Pa. near Pittsburgh.
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