Paw Paw Tunnel Campsite
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- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:50 UTC
- A night
- $20From, per site
- Sites
- 10All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 10 notices
In the agency’s own words
The Paw Paw Tunnel Campground is located at Mile 156 on the C&O Canal Towpath on the Maryland side of the Potomac River, across from the town of Paw Paw in West Virginia. Alcoholic beverages are prohibited. Keep reading
Facilities
There are 10 single campsites, each has a picnic table, fire ring and grill. Each site can accommodate eight people. If there is a larger group, reserve two sites next to each other. Portable toilets are available. Hand pump water is available from April 15-November 1.
Natural Features
Tucked in the mountains of Western Maryland and adjacent to Green Ridge State Forest, experience the history and culture of the area as well as its natural beauty, which is plentiful all times of the year, but especially during autumn.
Nearby Attractions
Continue your adventures at Green Ridge State Forest! The city of Cumberland, MD is just 25 miles (40 km) west on MD Route 51. Contact Info This location is unstaffed. To speak with our main office for general information, please call: (301) 739-4200.
Charges & Cancellations
Cancellations A cancellation is the release of a confirmed reservation prior to the start of the defined late cancellation time frame which results in non-use by the original customer. Camping and Day Use Facilities Cancellations up to 2 days before a reservation start date incur a $10.00 cancellation fee. Late Cancellations or Cancellations within the Cut-off Window • Individual Campsites: A customer who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation). Cancellations for a one-night reservation will forfeit the entire amount paid and will not be subject to an additional service fee. • Group Facility: Customers who cancel a group overnight facility reservation less than 14 days before the arrival date will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee. • Group Day Use Area: Customers who cancel a group day-use facility reservation less than 14 days before the arrival date will forfeit the total day-use fee.
What the agency tells you
Water & Hygiene. Bring a backup supply of potable water as pump handles may not be in place at all times. Restrooms will be cleaned twice weekly. Please bring your own hand sanitizer, soap and toilet paper as these items have been the subject of theft.
Winter supplies. Please bring ample water if winter, and food as minimal supplies are available if at all in surrounding towns.
Fires are permitted in established fire rings. Please ensure that your fire is extinguished completely each time you leave the area. The cutting or defacing of any live growth is strictly prohibited. Kiln fired or dried wood may be brought into the park. Fallen dead timber in the park may be used for on-site firewood. Bring handsaws to cut fallen wood. Chainsaws are prohibited. Park Rangers reserve the right to ban all fires during periods of drought.
Everything else this campground posts · 7
Scouts and Large Groups: Please reserve two adjacent sites. Check the facility map for numbering.
Quiet Hours. Please observe quiet hours between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
Alcohol & Marijuana. Alcoholic beverages are prohibited. Marijuana is illegal on federal property.
Pets are allowed in the campgrounds. They must be restrained by a 6 ft. leash at all times and their waste must be picked up and taken with the owner.
Check-in and Check-out. Check-in time is 1:00 p.m. ET. Check-out time is 12:00 p.m. ET.
Remove All Trash. The park is a 'Trash Free Park' and trash cans are not provided. Trash must be picked up and the area left in a clean condition before the group departs.
Emergencies. If someone is "squatting" in your campsite OR for emergencies, please call the National Capital Region Communications Center at 1-866-677-6677.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 10 · 10 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Portable Toilets - year round
- Drinking water
- Yes
- Stay limit
- 30 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- River
- Biking
- Fishing
- Hiking
13 of 20 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:50 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
OpenBooked
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $20 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
“Camping and Day Use Facilities Cancellations up to 2 days before a reservation start date incur a $10.00 cancellation fee. Late Cancellations or Cancellations within the Cut-off Window • Individual Campsites: A customer who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee A…” · this campground’s own terms
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 6
recreation.gov availability, read 16:50 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
10 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 10 mapped sitesAll 10 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 10 of the 10 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Paw Paw Tunnel Campsite | 001 | tent only nonelectric | 71 ft | 227 ft | $20 |
| Paw Paw Tunnel Campsite | 002 | tent only nonelectric | 50 ft | 219 ft | $20 |
| Paw Paw Tunnel Campsite | 003 | tent only nonelectric | 50 ft | 224 ft | $20 |
| Paw Paw Tunnel Campsite | 004 | tent only nonelectric | 66 ft | 198 ft | $20 |
| Paw Paw Tunnel Campsite | 005 | tent only nonelectric | 67 ft | 177 ft | $20 |
| Paw Paw Tunnel Campsite | 006 | tent only nonelectric | 58 ft | 135 ft | $20 |
| Paw Paw Tunnel Campsite | 007 | tent only nonelectric | 58 ft | 119 ft | $20 |
| Paw Paw Tunnel Campsite | 008 | tent only nonelectric | 66 ft | 107 ft | $20 |
| Paw Paw Tunnel Campsite | 009 | tent only nonelectric | 66 ft | 90 ft | $20 |
| Paw Paw Tunnel Campsite | 010 | tent only nonelectric | 74 ft | 84 ft | $20 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions
Where it is
Sorrel Ridge Hiker-Biker Overnight (HBO) CampsiteChesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park · 2.1 mi
Town Creek Hiker-Biker Overnight (HBO) CampsiteChesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park · 4.4 miStickpile Hill Hiker-Biker Overnight (HBO) CampsiteChesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park · 4.4 miDevils Alley Hiker-Biker CampsiteChesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park · 6.1 mi
Potomac Forks Hiker-Biker CampsiteChesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park · 6.9 miFrom Cumberland, MD: Follow MD State Route 51 South/E Industrial Road for approximately 24 miles (39 km). Paw Paw Campground will be directly off 51, on the left side of the road.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Paw Paw, WV
Typical weather
Typical October night 42°F, day 66°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 21°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Paw Paw Tunnel Campsite is in Maryland’s 6th congressional district. Its representative, April McClain Delaney (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A+. See every public-lands vote →