Capital Crescent Trail terminus
centroid 2 mi from Washington
The Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) follows an abandoned railroad right-of-way and extends from Georgetown, DC, to Bethesda, MD. The C&O Canal NHP manages and maintains the 3.7 miles of the trail in the District of Columbia. The Maryland section of the CCT is managed and maintained by Montgomery County, MD.
Suitable for walkers, joggers, bikers, and rollerbladers, the CCT is one of the most heavily trafficked rail trails in the United States The alignment of the trail is situated within the bed of the former Georgetown Branch of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, which operated from 1910 until 1985. The NPS acquired the right-of-way to the lower 3.7 miles in the 1990s and subsequently constructed the paved, shared-use trail as it currently exists in 1994. The Capital Crescent Trail terminus in Georgetown is located at the end of Water St NW, Washington, DC 20007.
- States
- DC
- Trail type
- National Historical Park trail
- Centroid nearest city
- Washington, DC · 2 mi · ~5 min drive
- Centroid coords
- 38.9044°, -77.0702°
About Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park
This trail is inside Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, a national historical park managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.
Entrance fee: $20 per vehicle (verify current rate on the park page). An America the Beautiful annual pass ($80) covers entrance to all NPS units.
Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/000/capital-crescent-trail-terminus.htm
Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/choh/index.htm
Plan your hike
Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.
Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.
When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.
If you've hiked Capital Crescent Trail terminus and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
Stay nearby
Other trails within 50 miles
Mount Vernon Trail North Terminus
1 miles from this trail's centroid
Information Panel: The Path to Freedom
2 miles from this trail's centroid
Anacostia Riverwalk Trail
6 miles from this trail's centroid
Information Panel: The Clara Barton Trail
6 miles from this trail's centroid
ADT - Maryland - Seg 3
6 miles from this trail's centroid
Rachel Carson Greenway Trail
8 miles from this trail's centroid
Sources
Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.