The Grand History Trail - A Trail of Two Cities

The Grand History Trail is in the news again as supporters are on a six-day tour to support the multi-state loop trail. 

The "Grand History Trail" would link York to Baltimore, Washington, Annapolis, Frederick, Gettysburg and Hanover — allowing folks to bike or hike through locations that are steeped in history.

The cyclists are scheduled to arrive in Annapolis on Tuesday. The following day, they plan to congregate before the Maryland State House at 9:30 a.m. to talk to legislative leaders before biking to Baltimore. On Thursday, the cyclists hope to meet city leaders at City Hall at 9:30 a.m. before returning to York.

As you can see on the map, the trail passes through the DC area and would include the C&O Canal, Capital Crescent, Metropolitan Branch and Anacostia Riverwalk/Tributary Trails. One of the loop's gaps is in Prince George's County between the Tributary Trails and the WB&A Trail.

Knoch, who is 68, half-joked that he isn't sure he will live to see the Grand History Trail finished.

"I think the trail moves at the speed of money," Knoch said, noting that feasibility studies on a trail between Hanover, Pa. and Gettysburg and a path between Gettysburg and Emmitsburg have been completed. "It's an idea that has been out there for nine years now. Let's build some momentum and get this thing done."

Knoch may be right. Not much has changed since my first post on this back in 2009, but some work could be forthcoming on the Jones Falls Trail.

And of course if one wants to go back farther, there is this Washington Post article from 1991 about the effort to build a trail connection from Washington to Baltimore. 

An auto-free, tree-covered greenway for cyclists and walkers should soon stretch from the National Mall to Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

Yes it should. But it won't...not soon at least.

Within the District, the greenway will use National Park Service land connecting Civil War forts, then turn south at Fort Totten through Catholic University on the route of the proposed Metropolitan Branch Trail. From Brookland almost to Union Station, the Met Branch will use former siding land, about 100 feet wide, that will become a linear park. 

Even this isn't yet finished - but soon!

At its northeastern end, the Fort Meade/Patuxent/Research Station greenway core will be connected to Baltimore in two segments. It will get as far north as Baltimore-Washington International Airport primarily using WB&A road, a lightly traveled road built on the former Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis tracks. Under plans now being developed by the Maryland Department of Transportation, the trail will go from BWI to downtown Baltimore along the Baltimore Light Rail line.

Not yet. The trail ends just north of BWI, near Linthicum; and then doesn't pick up again until Gwynn Falls. The WB&A doesn't connect across the Patuxent River and there's really no way to bike from there directly to BWI. Nearly 25 years later, there is still no Greenway to Baltimore. I'd love to see that map though.

Update: The Heritage Rail Trail County Park in York County and the Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail on the Maryland side, which make a the main connection between York and Baltimore on the Grand History Trail, were coincidentally inducted into the Rail-Trail Hall of Fame yesterday

Here are some numbers from the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy on rail trails:

1,920 total rail trails

22,108 miles of rail trails

714 current projects

8,074 miles of potential rail trail

Comments

[Crickey7]

Looks like a huge chunk is still in the "planned" or "gap" category.

What's the long open segment running from north of Baltimore to York?

[washcycle]

I think it's the North Central Railroad - York County Heritage Trails.

http://bikewashington.org/trails/ncr/ncr.htm

[T]

Yah, that's the TCB Rail Trail or at least looks like it based on the map. But I'm not sure on the PA side as it ends at MD/PA border.

[Purple Eagle]

Yes, it's the NCR trail. The MD section is now officially the Torrey Brown Rail Trail. It's a great ride through wooded terrain, much of it along the Gunpowder river.

OK, so now the question that comes up every few months - what's going on with the missing link on the WB&A, including the river crossing? I asked a DNR employee at the visitor center on the B&A this summer. I don't think she even really understood what I was asking about.

At least the connection between the Anacostia Trib trails and the WB&A is fairly low traffic, much of it on roads in old Greenbelt and BARC.

[Purple Eagle]

The PA section is the York Heritage Rail Trail. Functionally it's the same trail, but the PA section is managed by York County and the MD section by DNR as part of Gunpowder State Park. The PA section passes through more scattered farmland and a couple of small towns and ends in urban (ish) York. Also has active rails with a tourist train. So it has a somewhat different feel.

[Crickey7]

I see it goes through Sparks, which I think has the best name for a town of any (although Accident, MD and Intercourse, PA are strong contenders).

[ACyclistInThePortCity]

I am not at all familiar with the planned N-S trail through Frederick County Md. Any other info?

[John A.]

Rails-to-Trails has apparently pulled out of this project, as it is no longer featured on TrailLinks. The project does have an active website at www.grandhistorytrail.org.

[DE]

I went through Accident MD Friday afternoon. I have never thought of it as a good name for a town to travel through.