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The Western Maryland Rail Trail follows the course
of the Patomac River from Big Pool to Hancock about 10 miles west and now
continues for another 10 miles to Polly's Pond. This abandoned railroad grade
is pave with asphalt and is favored by in-line skaters. There is a parking lot
at Big Pool and two in the Hancock area. One more is located at XXX.
One of the best attributes of the WMRT is that it
also parallels the C&O Canal Tow Path. From the higher elevation of the
rail grade one can see the old canal below and the tow path that follows it.
The river beyond makes its way slowly southward to Washington, DC. Well usually
it is slow, but the occasional rapids make for a more interesting navigation
for the canoeists who can put in and take out at various points along the way.
Whereas the WMRT is but 20 miles long, the C&O Tow Path ranges from
Cumberland, MD to Washington, DC some XXX miles apart. |
| The grade is hard and flat for most of the
course. The occasional benches and tables make this trail a good choice for
families to stop and eat. Further up the trail at Hancock is the Hepburn Apple
Orchard store and the Park and Dine Restaurant. In Hancock itself is the
C&O Bike Shop to serve the needs of bikers who take the Tow Path way and
discover that man and machine do not always agree on how durable they are. For
longer trips on the Tow Path I recommend that you carry tire patches, a pump
and a spare master link for your drive chain, unless you are willing to walk
your bike to the nearest takeout point. In my case, I cannot walk it out. My
"$2.99" insurance policy includes the master link, and a chain rivet punch
tool. Flat tires I can manage, but the thought of being towed out by passing
hikers when my chain breaks is not what I had in mind when I started riding the
trails. |
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Artifacts of the railroad days still dot the
landscape along the way. Signal wires that once activated the red-green signals
and reported the passage of a train from one track block to another still hang,
dead, from the now rotting poles and broken glass insulators. From the far bank
of the river, and unseen from the trail, freight trains still whistle their way
along the Patomac. |
| This house sits between the abandoned
railroad grade to the right and the canal and tow path on the left. Residents
had the best of both sights, by either sitting on the front porch or the back.
On the foreground, all that remains of on some structure is the three steps up
to the door. |
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| Additional information can be found at the trail website:
http://www.hancockmd.com/WMRT/info.html |
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