Customer Reviews

The C&O Canal Companion

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My family lived in Washington for ten years. We often hiked on the C & O Canal. I studied for a masters in American history while we were there. The C & O Canal Companion would have added enormously to all of those experiences.

Reading this book's vignettes provides intimate connections to our nation's past. For example, The Companion reports that after the Revolutionary War, George Washington founded the Patowmack Company, an early attempt at making the Potomac River navigable because of his interest in his "western properties" across the Appalachian mountains. This guide gives a glimpse of the first President that we do not always see while pointing out visible remnants of those efforts.

In a notation about Chain Bridge, a beloved route to many of today's Washington suburbs, the guide shows the Civil War up close and personal. A Confederate sentinel was posted on the south side of the bridge, a Union soldier, mere yards away, on the north side. Furthermore, that same entry gives a brief sketch of Private William Scott who fell asleep there on his post. Court-marshaled by McClellan, pardoned by President Lincoln, William Scott went on to fight and die in battle for the Union cause. The Companion furnishes helpful information about parking, hiking, bed and board opportunities which are difficult to find elsewhere. It gives addresses and telephone numbers for reservations or further information.

Having looked at the Companion for specific data on one short stretch of the Canal, I have been lured into reading further, more like following a story than studying a guide. It made me want to return to Washington with children, hiking boots and The Companion in hand.

I was thrilled to find and read this book, the most complete one about the Canal I've found. As a frequent runner on and veteran of several cycling trips along the entire length of the Canal--as well as a resident of Georgetown--I have long had an interest in and love for the Canal.

The author, Mike High, uses many interesting and entertaining vignettes to tell the story of the Canal. He divides the book into four parts: "Historical Sketch", "Structures along the Canal", "Visiting the Canal", and "Canal Guide".

The first two sections put the Canal into a fascinating historical and engineering context, including George Washington's role in the development of the Canal, and the Canal's involvement in the Civil War. The last section is a concise, mile-by-mile guidebook.

In addition to history, High also presents useful information, including accommodations located nearby the Canal and suggested activities on/near the Canal.

For $... a "best buy".

This summer, I started biking the C&O Trail starting at Cumberland. I wanted a book that would tell some of the history of the trail as well as providing good landmarks for Civil War crossings, etc... This book fit the bill. I looked for several books on Amazon, and I'm happy that I choose this one.

The book is seperated into two parts, a general overview and history, and then a mile-by-mile breakdown of what to expect on the trail. I first read the history section and every night now before I head on the trail, I pull out the book and see what area I will cover the next day. The book has been great for planning with parking spots, etc...

One suggestion that I can think of is to offer a book that starts in Cumberland instead of Georgetown because reading the book backwards is somewhat awkward (I realize that most people start from the Georgetown end, though). Additionally, it would be great to have GPS coordinates posted of the landmarks in addition to the mileage marker. I would love to be able to load the coordinates in my GPS so I know exactly where these landmarks are while biking.

I organized and led our high school youth group (23 people) for a week long ride on the trail. This book was invaluable in pulling it off. It has all the info for logistical planning, as well as providing excellent historical context (which the high schoolers loved.)

While we were on the trail, I was tracking our progress via the book at every water stop. Even if you have minimal map reading skills, the maps in the book will allow you to determine your location with great accuracy (again, which the high schoolers loved.)

Finally, the book is organized wonderfully and is an easy and interesting read. It combines information with background and context.

In sum, if you are going to ride the C&O Canal trail, don't leave home without this book in your possession. It is as important as water and a first aid kit.

My interest in this book is as a tourning bicycle rider. It was of interest but not an invaluable guide for the bicycler.

I read it cover to cover. The old black and white photos are interesting. There is some practical information about exploring the canal. The extensive historical background is where the real value of this book lies.

It leans more towards history as a subject rather than touring.

I used this guide on a bike trip on the C&O canal this year. It is too big to take along each day, rather I found it to be useful to read before each day's ride to learn about what we'd see that day. It does a great job with the history of the canal and you really will learn a lot if you use it as a trip companion. I also used it in trip preparation to try and gage each days trip.

The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal is a living dream. Early Virginians envisioned a water route to the vast American interior--onward even to the Pacific. Jefferson urged Washington to make the Potomac navigable thereby creating an inland route to the Ohio.

Great republics need freedom to dream. They undertake experiments not all of which succeed. On the 4th of July, 1848, John Quincy Adams, sixth President, son of John and Abigail, broke ground for this canal. The setting was a sylvan glade overlooking the Potomac gorge a few miles above Georgetown.

The C&O Canal itself was a colossal failure considering its original purpose, overtaken by its competitor the B&O Railroad and never to reach its intended destination.

Mike High's guide, on the other hand, is a huge success. The C&O Canal Companion is far more than a "complete guide." High provides full narration of the canal's history, including numerous historical events that intertwine with the waterway: the French and Indian War, John Brown's Raid, and the bloodiest day in American History, September 17th, 1862, the Battle of Antietam. The the Union with 12,401 casualties lost 2,108 dead; the Confederacy with 10,318 casualties lost 1,546 dead.

High is particularly good on structures along the canal. We gain a true feel for the canal's operation as a living and working thing from his descriptions: locks and their operation; spillways; culverts--and that engineering marvel, the Georgetown inclined plane to lower boats from the canal to the Potomac.

My favorites of all are the magnificent aqueducts, ingenious designs for carrying the waterway above rushing creeks and rivers that must cross below to reach the Potomac. The very names of these structures, Seneca, Monocacy, Catoctin (fallen but now in the process of being repaired) and the picturesque Antietam, are themselves poetry. These stone beauties, the finest structures one can view in a wild setting, like the canal itself, have become so integral to their surroundings they seem a part of nature, not man-made.

Many miles have I run and hiked, preferring to travel on foot so as to take in canal sights, sounds and odors to their full, at times with a hiking companion, other times alone, and on some of my favorite long stretches with Athena, my trusted Golden Retriever. Many times have I brought Mike High's book along on my rambles.

A great American of the last Century, Justice William O. Douglas, preserved the Canal, helping make it what it is today--not the intended highway of interstate commerce--no, something better: a corridor for wildlife reaching from the Alleghenies to the Chesapeake. A preserver of the entire eastern shoreline of one of America's most beautiful rivers. Thank Douglas for his advocacy in the form of a widely publicized 1954 hike of the entire canal, a man of action who preserved a dream and made it better.

When human beings stretch their legs and breathe deeply, they are better able to exercise their rights and freedoms. What kind of a place would you dream of for this stretching and breathing?

In days of turmoil or congestion, dream a place to be alone among beautiful things, where history, nature, and wilderness are real, the rest of the world become a dream. Do you have a deep need to see and absorb this truth, the majesty of which can only be contemplated while alone in a place of beauty?

Freedom begins with dreams. "The right to be let alone," Justice Douglas reminds us, "is indeed the beginning of all freedoms."

Dream a canal.

Wonderful guide to the C & O Canal park that includes history and detailed information about the various mile marks. This edition is revised from the original. However, with the make-over of the Monocacy Aqueduct in 2005 and other changes the book should again be updated to include this information.

Still this book covers every aspect of this unique national park that spans almost 185 miles from Georgetown to Cumberland, Maryland, whether you are a hiker or biker or just a traveler visiting the various sites along the canal.

Mike High's "C&O Canal Companion" stands the test of time as a definitive and relevant history and guidebook. Ten years after its last update, this book is still the go-to book for researching and touring the canal. The maps are excellent, and the mile-by-mile descriptions are extremely useful for exploring the national park. I daresay that it is a classic guidebook, and I don't say that lightly.

I learned a lot from this book. It is a great book if you just want it for the history of the canal, but use other sources to get information for services. Whites Ferry is now $2.00 per bike instead of 0.50. The shoulder on route 15 has been paved, so it is a safer ride to get into Leesburg. Also the only detour that you will make is slackwater, and that will be completed next year. The Greater Allegheny Passage is now completed from Cumberland Md to McKeesport Pa and will be finished in November of 2011 to Pittsburgh's Point State Park (11/11/11 to be exact). There are too many updates to list to mention. This book needs to be updated to do true justice for touring. Ten years has been to long for an invaluable book.