The C&O Canal started as a dream of passage to western wealth, operated as a conduit of eastern coal, suffered extensive and finally fatal flooding, and then resisted being paved as a highway. Today it endures as a national historical park - a pathway into history, nature and recreation. The park follows the route of the 184-mile canal along the Potomac River between Washington, D.C. and Cumberland, Maryland. The canal was built between 1828 and 1850.

• Take a mule-drawn canal boat ride.