The seven National Park Service visitor centers have displays and interpretive exhibits on the history of the canal. The park offers rides on two reproduction canal boats — the "Georgetown" and the "Charles F. Mercer" (named after the first president of the Canal corporation, and not the first boat on the canal named "Charles F. Mercer") — during the spring, summer and autumn. The boats are pulled by mules, and park rangers in historical dress work the locks and boat while presenting a historical program.