Linking Up Sample Itineraries

Here are 5 sample trips, illustrating both directions and various lodging options: B&Bs, motels, camping, and hostels (low-cost housing for trippers with bunkrooms, kitchen facilities for hostlers, and shared common area). More details appear on the amenity lists associated with the trial maps. Use these itineraries as starting points for your own planning.

Lightly-supported 10-day B&B/motel trip from Leesburg to DC to Pittsburgh

This is the itinerary of Yokatomactrek ’99, June 1999, the inaugural trip of the Allegheny Trail Alliance. We used a van to carry baggage each day; a volunteer drove the van for the whole trip. The van wasn’t large enough to carry all the riders and bikes, so we selected lodging within easy biking distance of the trail. We left an extra car at Cumberland to help with the shuttle to Meyersdale Several riders wanted to see the Washington and Old Dominion Trail in Virginia, so we started a day early to add the W&OD. You could certainly start in Washington DC instead.

Fully-supported 8-day trip from Pittsburgh to DC

Let someone else do the driving. Take the train to Pittsburgh and home from DC. For example, the train from Philadelphia arrives early afternoon; adjust the first day’s sightseeing for other trains. This itinerary covers 45 miles on most days and includes a side tour of Antietam Battlefield.

Self-contained 9-day mostly-camping trip from DC to Pittsburgh

This is a variant of a trip that several of us made in the fall of 1997. We arranged with an outfitter to drive our car from Washington DC back to Cumberland. We retrieved the car there, and one rider drove the shuttle for the two trail gaps between Cumberland and Confluence. We left the car in Confluence and retrieved it the day after we got to Pittsburgh.

Self-contained 5-day or 10-day motel/hostel trip from Pittsburgh to DC

For a more leisurely trip, this 30-mile/day itinerary uses inexpensive lodging where it can and doesn’t require any support – just pack your clothes on your bike and go. Between Confluence and Cumberland, hire an outfitter to drive you around the trail gaps. For a fast trip (60 miles/day), use every other stop on this itinerary. This is a natural extension of the popular 3-day, 60-mile/day itinerary for the C&O Canal. For economy, stay at hostels at Ohiopyle, Sandy Hook, and Washington and the truck stop in Hancock.

Lightly-supported 8-day camping trip from DC to Pittsburgh

Some of the Yokatomactrek ’99 riders stayed in campgrounds most of the time. This is a slightly improved variant. The support van transported the camping gear, so we used car-accessible camping wherever it’s available (everywhere except Leesburg and Cumberland). This itinerary ends in Boston PA instead of shuttling to Pittsburgh PA.

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