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Here are some photos from the 3rd annual LocktoberfestDC held on Saturday September 27, 2025. The weather forecast had called for rain, but luckily the rain held off until a light drizzle started at the end of our tours. Thanks to everyone who joined in the walking & biking tours exploring the canal systems of 19th-century Washington D.C. A special thanks to Sauf Haus Bier Hall and Garten for hosting our LocktoberfestDC Celebration for the third consecutive year.
Walking Tour #1: A Walk Along Tiber Creek
Tour Leader Hava Kantrowitz talks about the Washington City Canal stones uncovered during construction of the National Museum of African American History & Culture.
Volunteer Brad Robinson shows off a graphic of the Washington City Canal.
Tour participants make a stop at the German-American Friendship Garden in recognition of Oktoberfest.
Tour participants learn about the history of Tiber Creek transformed into the Washington City Canal.
Tour participants learn about the Nacotchtank people who lived in the area that became the Washington City Canal.
The tour stops at the Summer House, where a natural spring that once fed Tiber Creek flows to this very day.
Volunteer Jee Look admires the Summer House on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol.
Tour Leader Hava Kantrowitz explains how the Washington City Canal is memorialized at Freedom Plaza.
Walking Tour #2: A Walk On Two Canals
C&O Canal Lock 3 (drained for construction).
The tour participants gather around the "Zero Mile Marker" of the C&O Canal. The marker is adjacent to Tide Lock A where packet boats entered the C&O Canal Extension.
Tide Lock A (adjacent to the "Zero Mile Marker") is the southern terminus of the C&O Canal.
The tour takes participants along the path of the C&O Canal Extension, which enabled packet boats to travel from the C&O Tide Lock A to the Lockkeeper's House.
Volunteer Lisa Mosner snaps a photo of tour participants learning about the Lockkeeper's House from Volunteer Scott Szymendera.
Tour participants watch the 6-minute video inside the Lockkeeper's House.
Biking Tour #1: The C&O Canal Meets The City
Volunteers Stacey Fridley and Chris Lucas at the starting point.
The path of the C&O Canal Extension that connected the C&O and Washington City Canals.
Tour LeaderChris Lucas is first to arrive at Tide Lock A where the C&O canal joins the Potomac River.
Volunteer Stacey Fridley tells the story of a Supreme Court Justice's role in saving the C&O Canal as a national park.
Tour Leader Chris Lucas explains the Georgetown Incline Plane.
The replica packet boat at Lock 4 of the C&O Canal.
The C&O Canal towpath above the Potomac River.
The culvert beneath the C&O Canal that connected the Abner Cloud House to the grist mill.
Tour Leader Chris Lucas tells the story of the Abner Cloud House, built in 1801 (before C&O Canal began construction in 1828). With its grist mill located nearby, the house welcomed the new canal and the capability it offered for transporting its products.
Biking Tour #2: A Tale Of Two Canals
Tour Leader Nathan Mathai assisted by Volunteer Trisha Kurtz show off the southeast terminus of the Washington City Canal.
The southest terminus of the Washington City Canal.
Volunteer Trisha Kurtz explains the route of the Washington City Canal.
At our 'bonus' stop on this tour, participants learn a very interesting story that predates the Washington City Canal.
Tour participants learn how the route of the Washington City Canal (constructed 1810-1815) differed from the original path drawn up by city planner Pierre L'Enfant in 1791.
Tour participants view the route of the Washington City Canal, which ran for several blocks along the National Mall towards the U.S. Capitol.
Tour Leader Nathan Mathai leads participants up Pennsylvania Ave NW to see the Washington City Canal memorialized at Freedom Plaza
Biking Tour #3: Alexandria Joins The (Canal) Party
Tide Lock of the Alexandria Canal.
Tour Leader Tom Haser and Volunteer Seth Gardner show off the location of Lock 3.
The commemorative stone at Alexandria Canal Lock 3.
The unearthing of Lock 4 of the Alexandria Canal.
The stones of Alexandria Canal Lock 4.
How to learn more about the archaeological work at Alexandria Canal Lock 4.
The last remaining footer of the Alexandria Aqueduct sits on the Virginia side of the Potomac River.
The remains of the Georgetown abutment of the Alexandria Aqueduct is on the D.C. side of the Potomac River.
Tour participants at the "Zero Mile Marker" of the C&O Canal, where the canal joined the C&O Canal Extension to enable packet boats to travel downstream and join the Washington City Canal.
Lockkeeper's House
Lockkeeper's House Lead Scott Szymendera describes the life of the Lockkeeper and his family.
Walking Tour participants watch the 6-minute film about the Lockkeeper's House.
The Lockkeeper's House at 17th St and Constitution Ave NW has stood on the National Mall for nearly two centuries. It stands at the center of LocktoberfestDC as it is the only location visited by all walking and biking tours. Renovated and opened to the public for the first time in 2018, the house is staffed by VIPs (Volunteers-in-Parks) of the National Park Service. The VIP program is administered by the Trust for the National Mall.
The volunteers of the Lockkeeper's House created and run LocktoberfestDC with the assistance of the National Park Service and the Trust for the National Mall,
LocktoberfestDC Celebration at Sauf Haus Bier Hall & Garten
The LocktoberfestDC 2025 Celebration: A good time had by all!
Some of the 15 volunteers who led LocktoberfestDC walking and biking tours.
Left-to-right: Chris Lucas, Nathan Mathai, Trisha Kurtz, Tom Haser, Seth Gardner, Lisa Mosner, and Barbara Berti.
Tour Leader Chris Lucas is "double-fisted" after leading Biking Tour #1.
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