Downstream view of Lock 61 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
Lock 61 is located at Mile 153.1 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath. It is not accessible by vehicle. The closest parking area is at the Paw Paw Tunnel Campground, and from there it is 3.3 miles downstream. See the Locks and Lockhouses web page for an interactive location map.
Lock 61 is one of eight locks on a remote 15-mile stretch of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal between the Paw Paw Tunnel and the Fifteenmile Creek Aqueduct that has no vehicle access. Most of these locks are only seen by those hiking or biking part or the entirety of the C & O Canal.
The upper end of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal was the last to be completed (it opened in 1850), and by this time it was evident that the railroad was going to put it out of business. Locks were typically made using cut stones that fit tightly together with mortar and had a very finished look. However, to save money, locks 58 through 71 were constructed from rough, uncut stones with large gaps between them, which was not going to hold water very well. To combat leakage, a wood lining was attached to the walls. In most cases this didn’t work that well, and starting in 1891, many of the locks had the wood replaced with concrete. Lock 61 is one such lock. For comparison, the first photo below is of lock 61 and the second is of Lock 64 2/3, which still has some of its original wood lining attached—very rare.
Concrete walls of Lock 61 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
Original uncut stones and remnants of the wood liner on the wall of Lock 64 2/3 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
While the wood lining of Lock 61 is long gone, there is some wood remaining that was part of a lock gate. It is amazing that wood soaking in water for 175-plus years is still around. Wood used on the locks was “kyanized,” meaning it was treated with mercuric chloride to prevent decay. This seems to have worked very well.
Remnants of wood used on the gate of Lock 61 on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
Another feature of Lock 61 that is not seen on many locks along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal is the sluice. All locks had them, but today many have been filled in with dirt or are covered in vegetation and hard to spot. A sluice is a ditch that runs parallel to the lock. When the upstream gates are closed, the sluice allows water to flow around the lock instead of backing up into a pool of excess water that could spill over the banks of the canal or put additional pressure on the lock gates. The water empties back into the canal just past the downstream gate. The idea is similar to that of a spillway on a dam.
Remains of the Lock 61 sluice on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
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Last updated on June 25, 2026
