Coalition for the Capital Crescent Trail

Fyi I've encountered copperheads on the trail within a mile of the trailhead in Georgetown twice in the past two months, including yesterday evening (6.7.20). Both instances were at dusk and I was riding with a headlight, otherwise I wouldn't have seen them or would have mistaken them for fallen branch debris. Both were smallish, but at least two feet long. When I tried to shoo one of them off the trail, it assumed a defensive posture and struck out in my direction. I've ridden this trail hundreds of times, often at evening, but I've never come across a copperhead until this year. I see joggers and strollers walking at dusk who could easily stumble onto them and get bitten. People should be apprised and aware of the risk.

My wife and I were running/walking on the CC trail on Monday, August 12 around 7:15 pm. She was walking headed north and was struck by an SUV at the crosswalk at Little Falls Parkway. According to witnesses and the police, the driver was traveling eastbound about 25 mph when she struck my wife. My wife sustained serious head injuries, a broken bone about her eye, broken thumb, and very serious hematoma and bruising in her back where the car struck her. She is still in the hospital and will be transferred to a rehabilitation hospital for an extended stay. The weather was pleasant that afternoon and the trail was full of bikers and runners. It's inconceivable to me why this driver was going so fast at the dangerous Little Falls crossing. According to the police report, the driver did not see my wife until the last second and tried to brake but it was too late. If anyone witnessed the actual accident, please contact me as I would appreciate your perspectives. Thank you. Mauricio Vera [email protected]

The following inquiry is being posted at the request of a Trail user. Please reply directly to that user as indicated below.

The crash occurred at about 2:05 pm on Sunday Nov. 25. This was the Sunday right after Thanksgiving, and the weather was one of the nicest fall days we have had. The trail was crowded. The location of the crash was about 3/4 mile West of the Georgetown end of the trail.

The woman involved in the crash was seriously injured.  Please contact us if you witnessed the crash or can help us locate anyone who did. Please send email to  [email protected] or call/text  202-469-1371

The circumstances of the crash were: Two women were riding westbound (i.e. towards Bethesda) when an older man (also westbound) attempted to pass them. A woman and her boyfriend were riding together eastbound and the woman was injured in the crash. The two women riding westbound were blameless in this crash.

If anyone has suggestions on other ways we can locate witnesses, that would be helpful.

The National Park Service alerted us at 7 am on 11/27/2018, saying:

I apologize for the short notice. NPS will be removing vegetation from the Potomac Aqueduct today starting at 9:00 AM. It looks like the job of removing all vegetation from the faces of the Aqueduct will continue on throughout the week. Maintenance will be using a boom truck in order to remove the Ivy from the western face of the structure and any other hard to reach areas. NPS will have volunteer flaggers directing pedestrians and bicyclists through the work area. Barricades will be placed around the boom truck and signage will be placed at the trail head. Bicyclers are asked to dismount there bikes when in the work zone.

The Potomac Aqueduct is at the Georgetown end of the trail, over the gate between the trail and Water St.

About 7 AM on 6/11, a trail user reported a tree down across the trail, north (uphill) of the Delacarlia tunnel. Maintenance has been notified, so it should be removed shortly.

UPDATE: As of mid-afternoon on Saturday, March 3, the trail had been cleared and was usable.

Based on user reports on March 2, 2018 during the wind storm, the Capital Crescent Trail is currently UNSAFE! It's not just fallen trees and limbs, but flying debris that makes it dangerous.

As of Sunday afternoon, 2/11/20178, users report a tree down on the trail, about a third mile north of Canal Road. The National Park Service has been notified.

Road the entire trail this morning from Bethesda to the waterfront and there's very little ice - one or two very small patches which will probably melt and possibly evaporate today. Looks like salt has been spread in many areas that would otherwise be susceptible to icing (thanks!). If you ride Pennsylvania Ave, watch out a couple of blocks East of the white house - there's a huge ice patch and I had to ride outside of the bike lanes to avoid it.

As of Tuesday 10 October 2017 at 07:30 am, a large tree and its branches were blocking the entire path on Capital Crescent, about halfway between mile markers 7.0 and 7.5 (near Chain Bridge). Have to lift bikes/bodies over the entire thing.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 9/6/2017, there is a huge tree down blocking the trail in DC, just below MD-DC line.

As of early Saturday morning, July 15, a downed tree was blocking the trail near mile marker 7, a bit uphill from the bridge over Canal Rd. It was cleared around noon.

As of mid-afternoon on Saturday, a tree is blocking 3/4 of the width of the trail, between Connecticut Ave and Jones Bridge Rd. 

There is a tree down on the Georgetown Branch Trail immediately east of the Lyttonsville Pl bridge. I saw it yesterday (7/7) around 7pm. Can walk around it, but it blocks most of the trail. Bryan Close