One of my favorite places in the Washington, DC, area is the C & O Canal.
The C&O Canal operated from 1831 until 1924 along the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., to Cumberland, Maryland. The canal's principal cargo was coal from the Allegheny Mountains. Construction on the 184.5-mile canal began in 1828 and ended in 1850 with the completion of a 50-mile stretch to Cumberland. Rising and falling over an elevation change of 605 feet, it required the construction of 74 canal locks, 11 aqueducts to cross major streams, more than 240 culverts to cross smaller streams, and the 3,118 ft Paw Paw Tunnel. By the 1870's railroads, with larger locomotives, were able to set rates lower than the canal, and thus seal its fate.
One particular section of the canal, wide water, located west of Old Anglers Inn, is especially interesting with diverse wildlife and interesting views.
One of the locks used to manage water level in the canal.