Walking Tour #3

Tour:  Free guided group walk exploring how the Alexandria Aqueduct connected the Alexandria Canal to the C&O Canal in Georgetown.

Start Time:  We depart from the Start Location at 12:30PM.  It is suggested that you arrive 15 minutes early.

Start Location:  Theodore Roosevelt Island public parking lot.   We will meet at the north end of the parking lot.  Access to the parking lot is from the northbound lanes of the George Washington Parkway in Virginia.  At most times there is plenty of free parking. There are no restrooms or food service at the start location.

End Location:  Lock 3 of the C&O Canal, located on the C&O Canal between Thomas Jefferson St. NW and 30th St NW.

Distance:  From the Start Location to the End Location, the tour is 1.5 miles.  Add an additional mile to reach our LocktoberfestDC Celebration.

Tour Leaders:  Hava Kantrowitz, Brad Robinson 

Route Highlights:  At the start location, we review the three canals that served Washington D.C. in the 19th-century, with a focus on the Alexandria Canal.  The Alexandria Canal was 7 miles long between the port of Alexandria (today's north Old Town) and today's Rosslyn, VA.  The Alexandria Canal required only 4 lift locks (all located in the port city of Alexandria) and from there to Rosslyn it was flat, requiring no additional lift locks.  The major challenge was building the Alexandria Aqueduct across the Potomac River.   We begin our tour by learning about the Rosslyn Culvert, a roadway tunnel beneath the Alexandria Canal.  From the start location we will walk underneath today's Key Bridge (wear sturdy shoes), which was built just to the south of the historic Alexandria Aqueduct.  We will see the foundation of the Aqueduct's abutment and the last remaining historic pier in the Potomac River.  We then retrace our steps and cross the Potomac River over today's Key Bridge.  On the north side of Key Bridge, we take a circuitous route to the remains of the Alexandria Canal historic abutment in Georgetown.  From there we walk along the C&O Canal to Locks 4  and 3, where we will see an operational lift lock and replica packet boat typical of the 1800s. From here 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:  Wear sturdy shoes as a few hundred yards of this walk is over rough terrain (tree roots, rocks, etc.).  Most of the walk is on concrete sidewalks and the gravel surface of the C&O Canal towpath.  Bring a water bottle, sunscreen, and $$$ (for our LocktoberfestDC Celebration).