Tour:  Free guided group bike ride along the historic path of the 19th-century Alexandria Canal and its connection to the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal, thus connecting the City of Alexandria to Georgetown and downtown Washington D.C.  See Canals of D.C. for more information about the historic canals. 

Start Time:  We depart the Start Location at 11:00AM.  It is suggested that you arrive 15 minutes early to allow for any delays in Metro or difficulty finding parking.

Start Location:  Our Start Location is the intersection of Montgomery St. and N Pitt St. in Old Town Alexandria. It is on the footprint of the historic Alexandria Canal.  There is a Capital Bikeshare station at our Start Location, a photo of which can be seen below.

Please note:  If you take Metro, our Start Location is less than a mile from the Braddock Road Metro Station (yellow/blue lines on Metro).  Bikes are permitted on all Metro subway cars.  

• • Restrooms and food service are available at businesses nearby the Braddock Road Metro station.

  • Click here for information about Capital Bikeshare bike rentals at the start location.

End Location:  Lockkeeper's House  at Constitution Ave NW and 17th St NW, on the south side of Constitution Ave.

Distance:  From the Start Location to the End Location, the tour is 13 miles.  Add an additional mile to reach our LocktoberfestDC Celebration. 

Tour Leader:  Tom Haser, Jeremy Goldstein, Seth Garner

Route Highlights: From our Start Location, we ride a short distance to restored Lock 1, where the Alexandria Canal met the Potomac River.  From there we explore the historic locations of Locks 2, 3, and 4, and see some interesting interpretive signs and remnants of the old canal.  From there we ride north towards Georgetown along a path mimicking the original canal path (it is not possible to follow the exact route of the long-buried canal).  Along the way we see the location of the aqueduct that carried canal boats over Four Mile Run.  Continuing north, we arrive at today's Key Bridge, which was built just to the east of the historic Alexandria Aqueduct Bridge, the remnants of which we see hidden in plain sight.  From 1843-1886 canal boats could cross the Potomac River from Virginia to Georgetown and enter the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal.  We cross Key Bridge and reach the C&O Canal.  There we will see the historic towpath and, at Locks 3 & 4, an operational lift lock, a replica packet boat typical of the times, and a recognition of a man who helped save the C&O Canal as a National Park.  We then ride to C&O Canal Mile 0, a stone marker at the canal's southeastern terminus.  Here we see the ruins of Tide Lock A that connected the C&O Canal to the Potomac River.  Then we ride along the footprint of the historic C&O Canal Extension until reaching its terminus at the Lockkeeper's House (where nothing remains of the historic Tide Lock B). At the Lockkeeper's House the house docent will explain the history of the house as well as the massive project by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to create West Potomac Park and East Potomac Park, thus creating man-made land which covered the historic canal extension. From the Lockkeeper's House, participants are encouraged to join our LocktoberfestDC Celebration which runs 3:00PM-5:00PM.

Sign Up:  Click here to sign up. Sign up is required for all tours, and is limited to 40 participants.

Bring With You: Bike helmet, water bottle, sunscreen, bike lock, and $$$ (for LocktoberfestDC Celebration). The majority of this bike ride is on a paved bike path or sidewalks.  We will ride only short distances on a natural surface (the C&O Canal towpath).