Explore the best rated trails in Ellicott City, MD, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Anacostia River Trail and Meadowlark Connector Trail . With more than 123 trails covering 4673 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
From Dupont Circle in DC out to Purcellville in VA is almost exactly 50 miles. So hard core cyclists can do a century, while less extreme pedalers can make a two day trip out of it. And, as there are many Metro stops along the trail, cyclists can also do rides of varying lengths along different sections. An amazingly versatile trail in that regard. All of which — plus the C&O Canal (360 miles r/t from DC to Cumberland), Mt Vernon Trail (42 miles rt from DC to Mt Vernon), Rock Creek Park trail (45 miles rt from DC to Lake Needwood) should make DC the top cycling destination in the US.
Whether a multi-day ride from DC 180 miles to Cumberland or individual day rides along the tow path next to the C&O canal, this trail is awesome. And now that much of it has been resurfaced to be crushed granite rather than just dirt, muddy rides will no longer be a problem after and during rains. One of the top 10 bucket list rides in the US, easily.
Good mountain bike trail that as described in the trail overview traverses up and down the "rolling" hills with many areas of no shade. If you start up at the Germantown Soccerplex, I suggest you park near the BMX bike course and south along the tree line and you come across the starting marker for the Powerline trail (about a tenth of a mile down).
After being on the back burner for most of the past decade, progress on building a multi-use trail between York and Hanover is moving forward again.
As its name implies, the Hanover Trolley Trail was originally envisioned to follow the route of the York-Hanover Fast Line, a trolley service that connected York City with the southwestern boroughs of Spring Grove and Hanover between 1909 and 1939. Two short segments of the trail, each about 1.5 miles in length, were constructed on sections of the old trolley line, one from Moul Field in Hanover east to Gitts Run Road in Penn Twp., and another from Hosiery Alley in Spring Grove east to Martin Road in Jackson Twp. in the late 2000's/early 2010's.
Unfortunately, efforts to continue building the trail along the old trolley line stalled due to the fact that some sections had reverted to private ownership while others were converted to public roads. To work around this, newer segments of the trail will be routed along an inactive Genesee & Wyoming rail line that closely parallels the old trolley line for most of its length. The first section of trail along this new alignment was built on the east side of Spring Grove from the RR trestle on the original alignment southwest through Spring Grove Community Park to the corner of Main Street and Railroad St. next to the fire station in 2022.
Now, two years later, an additional 2 miles of the trail have been built along the old RR line from the trestle northeast to the Jackson Twp. line, immediately west of an abandoned bridge over Sunnyside Road. The first 1.5 miles of this section parallels an existing segment of the trail and the two alignments are connected via a half mile of Martin Road, giving users the option of riding or walking a loop.
Unlike the segment that it parallels on the trolley line, which crosses rolling farm fields, the new section passes through meadows and woodlands along the West Bank of the Codorus Creek. Observant trail users will note the concrete abutments to a now demolished bridge over the creek and a small family cemetery that sits on the side of a hill southwest of Martin Road. After passing a bucolic hamlet at Martin Road, the trail reenters the woods and follows the creek to a dead end immediately west of the old RR bridge. This bridge is currently barricaded and not open for use, and there is no public access to Sunnyside Road. The most notable features along this section include the clear waters of the creek and old rock cuts that were dug or blasted out to build the RR.
Although it does not yet connect to Bair or West York, this newest section of the Hanover Trolley Trail is a big step forward for the project. Efforts are already under way to extend the trail southwest to Gitts Run Road along the old rail line and to connect with the existing segment east of Hanover. Once that is accomplished, the portion from Sunnyside Road to Bair should be completed, and a feasible alignment through West Manchester Twp. to York City is currently under study.
The trail was nice and enjoyed the bird songs. I had started at the Northern trail head and heading south to MD border. The problem is the trail isn't well marked once I had made York. I had gotten lost and wasted a lot energy and looped around York trying to locate the southern Heritage Rail trail. Decided to head back, luckily my phone hadn't run out of charge.
All that being said I will try it again later this year.
The main trail incorporates a mix of asphalt and gravel surfaces with great views. There’s also a number of off-trails that offer more of a trail running experience through the deeper woods. Love this place!
Very calming trail with little to no traffic at 7pm.
It is a very scenic rail trail. It is obviously well maintained and wide for a bike trail. As listed, it is hard packed gravel and dirt. I do not understand the negative complaints about the surface when it is clearly stated in the description. The minimum tire width for this type of trail is 32mm with 50 psi max. pressure. I ride 45 mm tires with 38 psi on this type of trail surface.
We rode from the I70 park and ride into Baltimore and then took the Jones Falls Trail up to Mt Washington and then back to I70.
While the Jones Falls Trail seems relatively well maintained, the Gwynns Falls Trail was not. Especially from the Carroll Park Golf Course to Edmonson Ave. There were at least 4 fallen trees laying across the trail that I believe had been there for a number of weeks based on reports from other riders. All sorts of debri covered the trails including tons of broken glass. And there's literally mountains of trash and dumped household items all along the trail.
The top part of the trail including the gravel sections were beautiful and I feel most of the trail could be a wonderful experience if it were better maintained and cleaned up.
Wonderfully scenic but woefully in need of maintenance. Congress cuts National Park Service funding so rich people don’t have to pay taxes.
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