Family (Biking) Matters: I’m a SW DC resident and avid city biker. This spring, I’d like to try bikepacking [biking plus backpacking] and camping with my 6-year old on the C&O canal. I’ve been looking for resources on how to bike with him and carry our camping gear. Bikepacking Bound
_____________________________________________________________
Dear Bikepacking Bound:
We are big fans of bikepacking, and the C&O Canal is an excellent place to get started with your kids. One of the great joys of launching your bikepacking adventure from DC is that as soon as you leave the house on your bikes, your adventure has started! My family started doing bikepacking trips when our kids were 7, 5, and 2, and we have done a canal bikepacking trip every year since. Our kids are 13, 11, and 8 now, so the older kids now carry most of their own gear.
There are two basic camping options:
- Carry a tent and everything else you need to camp
- Rent a lockhouse as your shelter, reducing your need to carry as much stuff
Camping Outdoors
The first campsite you’ll come across is Swain’s Lock, about 2 miles past the Great Falls Visitor Center. This stopping point brings your journey to around 16 miles from Georgetown each way. Depending on your child’s abilities, this is a doable distance for an all-day ride, and it is essentially car-free past the Georgetown boathouses. The key to avoiding kiddo exhaustion is to take a break every 5 miles or so and make it fun rather than a slog.
Depending on the year/conditions, there may be a fire ban. If that’s the case, make sure to bring your own stove and fuel. Otherwise, you can cook in the firepit and gather wood from the area. Bringing camp food you can put on the grill or in the fire is a good idea (foil-wrapped stuffed potatoes, s’mores, etc). There is well water, but NPS advises to filter or boil it as a precaution.
After Swain’s lock, there are campsites around every 5 miles and all of them are free. Each site has well water and porta potties, but otherwise they are fairly rustic without nearby services or stores for most of them.
Rent a Lockhouse
Canal Quarters is the organization that manages seven restored lockhouses for rent, with room for 8+ guests. This saves you the trouble of bringing shelter and other items with you. The first few lockhouses ––6, 10 and 21–– are all fully furnished with beds, running water, electricity, bathrooms and kitchens. A rental means you only have to carry bedding and food, and provides better shelter in case of rain or other weather while still being fun. These lockhouses are also closer than the first camping sites, so it is a great way to start dipping your toes in the “family bikepacking” waters.
Lockhouses 22, 25, 28 are more rustic. They have beds, some battery-powered lights but no running water/electricity, heat or kitchen but they have nearby porta-potties as bathrooms. These can still be a good option, but it’s good to be aware of the difference if you go this route.
We recommend starting with renting a lockhouse to save you some of the logistical planning and uncertainty with weather. It’s even better if you’re able to stay two nights; otherwise, you can string together staying at different lockhouses on consecutive nights. Logistics aside, fishing is always a good activity to incorporate into your adventure. In springtime, the shad are running and can be caught reliably in lots of places. Bring enough extra gear to make sure your little one is warm and comfortable enough: Use layering and attention to hands and feet. Naturally oxidizing handwarmers are great to have as backup, along with plastic bags you can put in between socks and shoes to make a rainproof and windproof barrier.
Other Considerations
With a six-year old, be prepared to carry them and tow their bike (easy for most cargo bikes with a few straps), just in case they lose motivation. An alternate option would be to use a “trail-a-bike” system, or tandem bike so they can take breaks while you continue to pedal.
For your first outing, it may be wise to have a bail-out plan that gets you home without too much hassle. All the close-in lockhouses are within ride-hailing distance of DC. You can also have a friend with a van on standby. We have never needed to bail with our trips, but it’s a nice insurance policy to have just in case while you are getting used to family bikepacking. Make sure to bring bike lights as the Canal is almost completely unlit.
There’s probably a lot more to say about things like tire pressure, gear, packing and bikes, but this is enough to get you going. Let us know how it turns out!
And if you want to get your kids prepped for the ride, what better way than with the Hill Family Biking Littles Ride on March 22nd. This one-mile ride is targeted for kiddos age 3-6 and will give them the confidence they need to hit the C&O.