When did you last see water in the C&O Canal below Wisconsin Avenue? For most of Georgetown, the honest answer is three autumns ago. The National Park Service drained the canal for winter after the 2023 season, as it does every year. This time the water stayed out, because the park's lock and wall rehabilitation needs a dry channel for as long as construction lasts.
The dry canal, the missing canal boat and the trail detour at the river belong to three separate projects. Three organizations are running three projects with three finish dates, and the dates are spread from this fall to the end of the decade. A Georgetown resident who walks, runs or bikes along the water will get the canal back first, then the boat, and the riverfront last.
The canal walls: a spring finish that slipped to fall
The Park Service project, a $12.7 million contract that began in February 2024, covers Lift Locks 1 and 2 in Georgetown along with stretches of historic stone wall. The Georgetown walls on the list are the north and south walls between Locks 1 and 2, the walls near Lock 2, the walls upstream of Wisconsin Avenue, the north wall next to Potomac Street and the north wall at 34th Street NW. The same contract covers Lock 5, Inlet Lock 1, the Guard Lock and the feeder channel near mile 5 in Montgomery County. That's where the Potomac is diverted into the canal before the water runs downhill to Georgetown and into Rock Creek.
The Park Service had scheduled the work to wrap up in spring 2026. In late February 2026, part of the Level 1 north wall partially collapsed. That wall was already a concern: stones in its lower section had moved toward the canal and made the face bulge outward. Crews were repointing the masonry when they found unexpected conditions behind the wall, and the repair design had to change. The agency named likely contributors as water saturation, plants growing in the wall and freeze-thaw cycles. In its April 8, 2026 project update, the Park Service said the work was expected to run "through Fall 2026, weather dependent." The towpath around the collapse remains closed.
That April update is still the project page's latest timeline. On the park's current conditions page, last updated October 14, 2026, the canal between Locks 3 and 4 and between Locks 4 and 5 is listed as de-watered.
Even a finished wall won't bring water back right away. The park drains the lower canal every fall to protect the stonework from freezing, and water "usually returns to the canal in early spring." A fall 2026 finish therefore points to spring as the earliest time a refilled canal could reasonably appear, and the Park Service hasn't published a refill date.
The canal boat waits on the canal
The second timeline depends on the first. In the Park Service's own words, the point of a watered canal is partly that it "will also allow for canal boat rides for the public to continue."
Georgetown Heritage, the nonprofit that runs the Georgetown canal boat program, says the boat has been out of service for two years during the repairs and plans to relaunch it in 2027. Its fundraising page asks for help to "refloat our boat next spring." The group lists the costs of restarting: getting the boat ready for service, hiring and training new staff, and replacing equipment. Pledges go to Georgetown Heritage at 1055 Thomas Jefferson St NW, Suite 304.
In October 2025, The Wash reported that boat tours were expected back in early 2026. The wall collapse four months later moved the whole sequence back by roughly a year. On the Park Service conditions page, the Georgetown Canal Boat is listed as "Closed for the Season."
The river edge runs on a different clock entirely
At the river, a third project with no connection to the canal sets the longest timeline. DC Water's Potomac River Tunnel has a construction site on the 3300 block of Water Street NW, between 33rd and Potomac streets. The utility says work at Georgetown Waterfront Park is "expected to wrap up by 2030."
The detours that started in January 2026 are the ones in place now:
- Cyclists take a temporary path through Georgetown Waterfront Park between 33rd and Potomac streets to stay on the Capital Crescent Trail.
- Pedestrians heading for the trail use the riverfront path between 34th Street and Cecil Place.
- Walkers on Water Street next to the site should cross to the north side between 33rd and Potomac.
- Drivers still have Water Street, but DC Water asks them to expect more bike traffic.
The Park Service separately lists a local detour on the Capital Crescent Trail near the Potomac Aqueduct, which it links to the tunnel work.
Underground, the project is still a long way from Georgetown. In an August 27, 2026 update, DC Water said its tunnel boring machine, Mary, was fully assembled at 706 feet long. Mary would dig about 350 feet more, then stop for a changeover of more than two months to move from the soft soil near the river into hard bedrock. After that, the machine continues north to finish a 2.4-mile run from West Potomac Park to Georgetown University. In September, DC Water christened a second machine, Emily, which will dig south.
This project carries the longest timeline because it changes the most. DC Water says the finished 5.5-mile tunnel system will cut stormwater and sewage overflows to the Potomac by 93 percent, from about 74 overflow events in a typical year to four.
Three projects, side by side
| Piece of the water side | Run by | Status in the latest public update | Expected back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canal locks and walls, towpath mile 0.4 to 1 | National Park Service | Detours in place; collapse area closed | "Through Fall 2026, weather dependent," per the April 8, 2026 update |
| Water in the Georgetown canal | National Park Service | De-watered as of October 14, 2026 | No refill date published; seasonal refills usually come in early spring |
| Georgetown canal boat | Georgetown Heritage | Closed for the season | 2027, with spring as the stated aim |
| Waterfront Park tunnel site and trail detour | DC Water | Temporary routes since January 2026 | By 2030 |
The order is what helps with planning. The towpath should be the first piece to come fully back. Water in the canal and the boat depend on the walls being finished and then on the spring refill. The trail detour through Waterfront Park is likely to last through several more seasons of walks.
What's open along the water, and nearby, before the holidays
The Park Service's Georgetown Visitor Center, near the canal's mile 0 by 29th Street south of M Street, is listed as open. So is the potable water faucet at Lock 3, at mile 0.5. The park says it usually turns off its remote faucets around mid-November, so the Lock 3 tap has a few weeks left this season.
The rest of the late-fall calendar, in date order:
- Through October 25: Kayak and canoe rentals at Key Bridge Boathouse, 3500 Water St NW, end for the 2026 season. Stand-up paddleboard rentals ended October 16.
- October 31, 10 a.m. to noon: Trick-or-treating at Tudor Place.
- October 31, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.: The Wisconsin Avenue Woof Walk, with a dog costume contest at 1 p.m.
- October 31, 7 to 11 p.m.: A free light show at the Exorcist Steps, 36th and Prospect streets, listed in the Georgetown BID's Halloween guide. The guide also lists Ghosts of Georgetown walking tours nightly through October at 7 and 8 p.m.
- November 7, 10 to 11 a.m.: A guided labyrinth walk and meditation at the Georgetown Waterfront Park labyrinth near 33rd and K streets NW, hosted by Friends of Georgetown Waterfront Park, with November 8 as the rain date.
- November 14: A second labyrinth walk and meditation session in the park.
Both November sessions take place in the park while tunnel work continues on the 3300 block of Water Street.
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