Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park · Maryland
Overview 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. Facilities There are 10 single campsites, each has a picnic table, fire ring and grill.
Sites at Paw Paw Tunnel Campsite are reserved through Recreation.gov. Sites here can be reserved in advance through the official system, and they are claimed fast — cancellations then trickle back all season, unannounced, at any hour of the day or night.
| Total sites | 10 |
|---|---|
| Site types | Tent only |
| Location | Williamsport, MD |
| Book through | Recreation.gov |
| Official listing | Recreation.gov |
Because sites are booked months ahead, a steady share of reservations get cancelled as trips fall through. Each cancellation instantly returns that site and those nights to the official calendar — first-come, first-served, no waitlist, no announcement. Refreshing the booking page yourself, every few minutes for weeks, works in theory. In practice, the people who get these sites are the ones who hear about the opening first.
itOpened scans the Recreation.gov calendar for Paw Paw Tunnel Campsite around the clock. When a site matching your dates and your vehicle opens, you get a text with a direct link to it. You book it yourself, in your own account, at the normal price. We never book, hold, or resell — your fee pays for monitoring, and openings are first-come, so speed is the whole game.
| Antietam Creek Campsite | Cancellation alerts available |
|---|---|
| Spring Gap Campground | Cancellation alerts available |
| McCoy's Ferry Campground | Cancellation alerts available |
| Fifteen Mile Creek Campsite | Cancellation alerts available |
| Marsden Tract Group Campsite | Cancellation alerts available |
| Carderock Recreation Area Pavilion | Cancellation alerts available |
Page data refreshed 2026-10-29. Site facts come from the official directory listing for Paw Paw Tunnel Campsite; cancellation statistics come from our own scanning logs.