WASHINGTON-BALTIMORE & ANNAPOLIS TRAIL LETTERBOX:
BOWIE, MARYLAND
-BIKE IT OR HIKE IT-
Planted: April 24, 2003
Length: WB & A Trail; 6 miles
Electric Ave parking lot to Race Track Road parking lot; 5 miles
Electric Ave parking lot to Letterbox; 3 miles
Drive by; from High Bridge Road
Difficulty: Easy. Flat, paved rail trail with very slight grade.
Directions:
To Electric Ave parking lot; take exit 8 off of Route 50 and travel northeast on Route 704 (Martin Luther King Highway). Take a right onto Route 450 (Annapolis Road), left will bring you to the start of the trail, but there is no parking lot. Turn left onto Route 953 (Glen Dale Road) and you will soon cross over the trail. Turn immediately left down Electric Ave. I didn't see a street sign, but the power lines run down this street. The parking lot is on your left and contains picnic tables, a boardwalk and Porto-johns..
To Race Track Road parking lot; Take exit 11 off of Route 50 to Route 197 north. At the intersection of Route 450 (Annapolis Road), turn right for Race Track Road or left for the Drive by. Heading right, look for Race Track Road on your left. Then take that until you see the parking lot on your right. Heading left for the Drive By, look for High Bridge Road on your right. Take that past the Highbridge Park until you come to the old railroad trestle crossing the road. There is a pull out alongside the road. Then take a small path up to the bridge, turn right and cross the second bridge. See clues.
The Washington, Baltimore & Annapolis Trail runs along the site of the former WB &A Railroad. From 1908 through 1935, this line ran between Washington, DC and Baltimore. Currently, the trail runs 6 miles from Glenn Dale through Bowie. Future plans include extending the trail Northward to Odenton, then Southeast towards Annapolis. For information visit; W, B & A TRAIL , BIKE WASHINGTON or WASHINGTON BIKE ASSOC. .
Starting from the Electric Ave parking lot, head left or east up the trail. Right takes you over the boardwalk, parallel along Electric Ave, over the Folly Branch Brook and out to Route 450 where the trail begins. You will pass by the wooden 1 mile marker, which are located all along the trail and cross over Glen Dale Road. Parts of this trail are on-road, but they are access roads for houses only and not very long. This trail also follows the Power lines part of the way. After 0.9 miles (remember, the wooden mileage markers refer to the beginning of the trail), you'll pass by the Glen Dale Community Center and Splash Park and then take a tunnel underneath Route193. At just over 1 1/2 miles, you cross an old trestle bridge and again at 2.8 miles, you cross over High Bridge Road. Then, another bridge crosses over an active railroad line. After crossing this bridge, look to your right for a lone Oak tree, just above the railroad tracks. Behind this tree, under some rocks, is the WB & A Trail Letterbox. Continuing onward, you cross under under some power lines after 3.4 miles, then pass by the Blue Sky Stables Horse Farm. Four miles takes you up and over Route 197 and past the Berwyn Gun Club. You travel along the Hoursepen Branch Brook, cross a boardwalk and pass through a tunnel to the Race Track Road parking lot after 5 miles. If you pass through the parking lot, you can see where the old railroad tracks still cross.
HH
LETTERBOX LAST VERIFIED ON
DECEMBER 14, 2008
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WAIVER OF RESPONSIBILITY AND DISCLAIMER
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