Get Out & Go Tours offers a range of active tours for active people, from short and easy cycling tours to longer, more challenging ones, providing something for all levels of riders. For those who prefer shorter tours, we provide 3 and 4 day tours that traverse the C&O Canal National Historical Park, in the Washington DC area. For those who prefer longer and more challenging tours, we offer 5 and 6 day tours between Washington, DC and Pittsburgh, PA, that take you through some of the most beautiful scenery on the East Coast, free of auto traffic, and anchored by two premier cultural and key historical cities.

Select any one of our available tours to learn more about how you, too, can explore the C&O Canal and the Great Allegheny Passage.

Construction began on the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal in 1828, the same year as the B&O Railroad was begun.  The railroad won the race to the west, beating the canal to the Ohio Valley by 8 years.  The 184-mile canal cost $22 million, and includes 74 lift locks, and 11 stone aqueducts over Potomac tributaries.  The first canal boat to travel end-to-end along the canal did so in 1850, more than 150 years before us. Read more...

The C&O Canal Towpath travels beside the Potomac River out of metropolitan Washington, DC, then meanders quietly along the river, with few houses, towns, or people, offering scenic travel back to a time when water-powered transportation was key. The Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) combines several Pennsylvania and Maryland rail trails into a spectacularly scenic route free of traffic through the Western Maryland and Pennsylvania mountains between Cumberland and Pittsburgh. Completed in 2006, this new trail extends the C&O Canal to create a 334 mile ride between Washington, DC and Pittsburgh, PA. The GAP features three tunnels, including the 3,100’ Big Savage, two viaducts, arching railroad bridges, high mountain vistas, river rapids on the Youghiogheny River, and evidence of the area's coal-mining past. The reward of your 21 mile 1,800' ascent to the Big Savage Tunnel (a 1% grade), and the eastern continental divide, is a day and a half of down grade (up to .8%) riding . Read more...

Experience the culture of Pittsburgh pre-tour, and spend some time sightseeing the nation's Capital city before or after the tour, for a complete vacation experience of exercise, culture, and history. Fall trips offer cooler temperatures with stunning views of hardwood forests normally reaching peak color in the second week of October.  Beginning from Pittsburgh, PA, the tour offers participants a half-day for sightseeing before riding begins. Experience serene, peaceful moments along quiet stretches of the rivers between Pittsburgh and Washington, as well as key bridges, viaducts, tunnels, canal locks and lock houses, and breathtaking vistas of the raging Great Falls of the Potomac River. Read more...

Start in Frostburg, MD, a charming town with historic homes, a beautiful brick railroad depot at the end point of the Western Maryland Scenic Railway, museums, and a small-town way of life. Sample the eastern-most section of the Great Allegheny Passage rail-trail and experience key highlights, including the eastern continental divide and the Big Savage Tunnel, from which you can see the Cumberland Valley, 21 miles distant. During the fall, the color of the forest canopy is dramatic and colorful, and after a quick trip from Frostburg to Cumberland, participants will be enveloped in trees for the 184 mile length of the Canal.  Read more...

Tour of the Virginia's is not hard.  It's rail trails, like the C&O, but a bit smoother.  (The GAP trail is smooth too). The trails for that trip are very interesting, and varied, ranging from a 15 mile downhill ride to an optional singletrack day in the National Forest, to a 60 mile traverse through western West Virginia's mountains featuring 13 tunnels, each with its unique construction and character. One trail offers 47 trestles in just 35 miles, and all of the trails include breathtaking vistas through rural countryside. This new trip exposes you to a the best off-road riding the Virginia's have to offer. Read more...

Do you have varying interests? Are you planning a special group outing? Interested in camping instead of indoor lodging? Whatever your interests, Get Out & Go Tours can help you make your next outing a memorable event. Contact us today, and we'll help you plan the ride of your life. Read more...