March 16th, 2022 by WCBC Radio

The C&O Canal Towpath and Great Allegheny Passage are each nominated as one of the top best recreational trails in North America by USA Today’s 10Best.

USA Today 10Best editors worked with a panel of travel experts to nominate the country’s best recreational trails. “Over the course of the last two years, many people have looked for more ways to get active in the great outdoors. Thanks to an ever-growing network of recreational trails across the country, staying active is easier than ever,” the website states. 

The C&O Canal Towpath runs 184.5 miles from Georgetown in the nation’s capital to Cumberland, MD, along the historic C&O Canal, once used by canal mules to tow boats along the waterway. The Great Allegheny Passage is a 150-mile rail-trail system from Cumberland, MD, to Pittsburgh, PA. It was the first trail to earn a spot in the National Rail-Trail Hall of Fame.

Allegany County is home to approximately 70 miles of these two trail systems, which merge in Cumberland to create a 330-mile continuous, car-free trail from Pittsburgh to Washington, DC.

You can vote for your favorite trail at www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-recreational-trail-2022, once per day until polls close on Monday, April 11, at noon ET. The top 10 trails will be announced on April 22.

The other nominated trails are Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail, Austin, Texas; Blue Springs Headspring Trail, Orange City, Florida; Buffalo Bayou Park, Houston, Texas; Chuck Huckleberry Loop, Tucson, Arizona;  Colorado Riverfront Trail, Palisade, Grand Junction, and Fruita, Colorado; George S. Mickelson Trail, Black Hills, South Dakota; Gore Valley Trail, Vail, Colorado; High Line Canal Trail, Denver, Colorado;  Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail, Sacramento, California; Katy Trail, Missouri; Ke Ala Hele Makalae, Kauai, Hawaii; Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail System, Greenville County, South Carolina; Rio Grande Trail, Colorado; Silver Comet Trail, Georgia and Alabama; Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes, Idaho; Virginia Creeper Trail, Virginia and North Carolina;  and Wissahickon Trail, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.