The National Park Service is creating the first Comprehensive Plan for the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail. The plan will guide how NPS and partners connect trail sections, protect natural and cultural resources, strengthen relationships with communities, and support long-term partnerships across Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania. The trail includes the southern portion of the Great Allegheny Passage, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath, and most of what is essentially the ACA's Tidewater Potomac Heritage bicycle route <
https://www.adventurecycling.org/routes-and-maps/adventure-cycling-route-network/tidewater-potomac/>.
As part of the planning process, NPS is holding
a virtual public meeting at 6:00 p.m. (EDT) on Thursday, May 28, 2026, to present the plan and gather public input. (See <
https://parkplanning.nps.gov/MeetingNotices.cfm?projectID=136142>)
The link to the May 28 video meeting is:
<
https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_NjMyZGExYTYtNjkzOC00ODg2LTgxYWQtM2QxZmQ4YWIwNzZl%40thread.v2/0?context=%7B%22Tid%22%3A%220693b5ba-4b18-4d7b-9341-f32f400a5494%22%2C%22Oid%22%3A%2238352ccb-62e8-45c3-9572-b8c7633f3f7a%22%2C%22IsBroadcastMeeting%22%3Atrue%2C%22role%22%3A%22a%22%7D&btype=a&role=a>
A slide deck describing the plan is at <
https://parkplanning.nps.gov/showFile.cfm?sfid=847176&projectID=136142>
NPS will accept written comments on the plan between May 28 and June 29, 2026.
NPS expects to complete the plan sometime in 2027. (This is just a plan, by the way, not construction of any infrastructure.)
The home page for the Comprehensive Plan for Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail is <
https://parkplanning.nps.gov/pohecompplan>.
