The Paw Paw Tunnel requires a flashlight as it dims in the center.
The Paw Paw Tunnel is one of the most unusual hikes in the Berkeley Springs area, and one of the most fascinating pieces of history along the Potomac River. Located just across the river from Paw Paw, West Virginia, in Maryland’s Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, the tunnel was built in the 19th century to solve a problem that seemed almost impossible: how to get the C&O Canal around a series of enormous bends in the Potomac River. Today, you can walk the same route once traveled by canal boats and their mule teams, passing beneath more than 3,000 feet of mountain.
The adventure begins at the Paw Paw Tunnel Campground, at approximately mile 156 of the C&O Canal. From the parking area, follow the historic towpath west toward the tunnel.
This first portion of the hike is relatively easy. The canal is quiet, shaded and remarkably peaceful, with the old waterway on one side and the Potomac landscape surrounding you. Then the trees open up. Ahead, the enormous stone portal of the Paw Paw Tunnel appears in the mountainside. It is an impressive sight even before you know what you’re looking at.
Turn on your flashlight before you enter. The tunnel stretches 3,118 feet—nearly six-tenths of a mile—through Sorrell Ridge. It is lined with an estimated six million bricks and reaches approximately 24 feet high. Light from the entrance gradually disappears behind you, and the tunnel becomes a long corridor of brick, stone and echoes.
The Story Behind the Tunnel
A family learns about the history of the Paw Paw Tunnel while it looms in the background
The Paw Paw Tunnel exists because the Potomac River doesn’t like to travel in a straight line. The stretch of river surrounding Paw Paw contains a series of dramatic horseshoe-shaped bends known as the Paw Paw Bends, and is especially popular for kayakers and canoers.
When the C&O Canal was being constructed, engineers faced a choice: build approximately six additional miles of canal around the bends, or cut through the mountain. They chose the mountain.
Construction began in 1836, with the expectation that the tunnel would take about two years to complete. It took 14
years.
Workers had to excavate through hard, unstable shale using primitive tools and black powder. Labor disputes, financial problems, work stoppages and rockslides complicated the project. When the tunnel finally opened in 1850, it had become one of the most remarkable engineering accomplishments on the entire C&O Canal. The canal itself continued operating until 1924. Today, the tunnel is the only canal tunnel on the entire C&O Canal.
Add the Tunnel Hill Trail
The Paw Paw Bends via the Paw Paw Hill Trail
If you’re looking for more than an easy walk through the tunnel, this is where the adventure gets serious.
The Tunnel Hill Trail climbs over the mountain that the canal builders went through rather than around.
The trail is approximately two miles long and connects with the towpath at both ends of the tunnel. The trail is not for the faint of heart, although short, it is steep and strenuous.
Along the way, interpretive signs help tell the story of the people who constructed the tunnel, including the workers who lived in temporary communities around the mountain.
And then there is the view.
From Tunnel Hill, hikers can look out over the Paw Paw Bends of the Potomac, seeing the very landscape that forced 19th-century engineers to undertake such an extraordinary project in the first place.
How Difficult Is the Hike?
It depends on which experience you choose.
Easy: Tunnel Walk
The half-mile approach from the campground to the tunnel is relatively flat, following the canal towpath. Walking through the tunnel itself is also relatively level.
Great for: families, casual hikers, history lovers and visitors who simply want to experience the tunnel.
Strenuous: Tunnel Hill Trail
The Tunnel Hill Trail is a different experience.
It climbs steeply over the mountain and includes uneven and rocky terrain. The National Park Service classifies it as steep and strenuous.
Great for: experienced hikers, photographers and anyone wanting the full Paw Paw experience.
Make It a Paw Paw Adventure
Canoeing the Paw Paw Bends
The Paw Paw Tunnel works especially well as part of a larger day trip. And if you’re coming from Berkeley Springs, Paw Paw makes a natural addition to a day spent exploring the western side of Morgan County.
The area has a distinctly different character from the spa town itself: quieter roads, forested mountains, the Potomac River and a little bit of that wonderfully eccentric Appalachian history that tends to turn up in unexpected places.
For a longer adventure, explore the Paw Paw Bends by kayak with Greenridge Canoe Outfitters and grab a beer and some of the best wings in the state of West Virginia at Big and Tiny’s Tavern. Maryland’s Greenridge State Forest offers backcountry hiking near the tunnel trail head.
For a place to stay, there are great options in Paw Paw, check out The McBee House for an upscale whole home escape, or glamp at Canal Cabins where you can even stay in a converted school bus.
