Potomac
0.1 Oldtown Toll Bridge to Paw Paw Tunnel Campground
| Difficulty | I |
| Length | 12.3 mi |
| Avg Gradient | n/a |
| Gauge | Potomac River at Paw Paw, Wv |
| Flow Rate as of 48 minutes | 4.18 ftlow runnable |
| Reach Info Last Updated | September 17, 2023 |
River Description
If putting in at the Oldtown bridge, the canal is watered down to the Town Creek Aqueduct, permitting a 10 mile circuit. The Potomac Forks C&O hiker/biker campground is about 2.0 miles downstream from Oldtown. Although this 12 mile run begins at Oldtown MD (the confluence of the North and South Branches of the Potomac), a good alternate put-in resulting in an 8 mile run starts at the Town Creek Aqueduct river access (MD side) a few miles downstream. Putting in here, it is a Class I moving water run, with a few riffles to surf here and there, depending upon levels. The Town Creek C&O hiker/biker campgound is about a half a mile below the Town Creek Aqueduct. The Little Cacapon comes in from the West Virginia side about 7.5 miles below Oldtown (roughly 3.75 miles below the Town Creek put-in). The take out can be at the Paw Paw WV river access, just after the Paw Paw WV bridge on the West Virginia side, or the Paw Paw Tunnel park on the Maryland side.
River Features
Put In - Oldtown Toll Bridge
Oldtown Toll Bridge
Town Creek Aqueduct (River Access)
Town Creek Aqueduct (River Access) - A good alternate put-in resulting in an 8 mile run starts at the Town Creek Aqueduct river access (MD side) a few miles downstream. This river access is in Green Ridge State Forest off of MD Route 51.
Take Out - Paw Paw Tunnel Campground
River Access can be found at the Paw Paw Tunnel Campground which is located at Mile 156 on the C&O Canal Towpath on the Maryland side of the Potomac River, across from the town of Paw Paw in West Virginia. On the West Virginia side, there is also a concrete boat ramp off W.Va. State Route 9 allows access to the Potomac near the bridge across the river. At this boat ramp, there is parking for about 20 vehicles.
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportWhen nothing else is running, it's likely this section will be. I took a group of people on this stretch in early September and was very surprised by how nice and secluded-feeling it was.