·       After completing a year-long United States history course, 18 juniors will bike 325 miles from Washington, DC to Pittsburgh, PA and explore a segment of the Underground Railroad, a network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19^th century slaves in the United States to escape to free states with the aid of abolitionists who supported their cause.  This bike trip is an extraordinary opportunity for our students to discover a significant period of our nation's history while experiencing the joy and challenge of long-distance cycling. 

·            The trip begins in downtown Washington, DC and travels along the 180-mile C&O Canal along the north bank of the Potomac River.  Once in Cumberland, Maryland, we will then join the 125-mile Great Allegheny Passage from Cumberland to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Along the way, we will visit many historic and/or cultural sites including the Sandy Spring Slave Museum and African Art Gallery, the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Antietam National Battlefield, Gettysburg National Military Park, Fallingwater, and many of the National Monuments and museums in the nation's capitol.  In addition, we will visit at least one college along the route and take a formalized tour of the school.