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Chugging Along the NCR Trail
by Joe Sugarman

Study a map of 19th-century Baltimore and you’ll see a tangle of cross-hashed railroad lines shooting off in all directions like the legs of a spider. As the epicenter for America’s earliest rail lines (most notably, the Baltimore & Ohio), the city served as a major hub in transporting goods to the frontier. One hundred and fifty years later, traffic still flows along the area’s most picturesque line—the Northern Central—only nowadays, it’s bicyclists and hikers.

Like the best pathways, the Northern Central Railroad Trail isn’t only thick with natural beauty, but with history as well. The trail sports several historic markers, the remains of an old lime kiln, and crumbling stone buildings. Abraham Lincoln rode an NCR train on his way to deliver the Gettysburg Address. And ironically, an NCR train transported the deceased president’s body back to Illinois after his assassination.

The trail itself is a packed dirt and limestone affair, covered in many places by a canopy of green, which makes riding relatively cool even during Baltimore’s most humid summers. Look for deer scampering across the trail at dusk, soaring hawks overhead, and a rogue flock of black vultures that roost near Monkton during fall and spring. The Gunpowder River, bordered by strands of sturdy maples and birch and the occasional farm house, meanders along quietly next to the trail. At junctures where the trail intersects the road, you’ll see squat white signs marked with a black W, still alerting ghostly train operators to whistle.

Practically Speaking
The NCR trail begins in the northern suburb of Cockeysville and continues for 20 miles to the Mason-Dixon Line where it becomes the York Heritage Trail. It’s another 21 miles to the city of York from there. The closest access to point to downtown Baltimore is along Paper Mill Road in Cockeysville, but the most popular—and most picturesque—access lies 20 miles north of the city at Monkton, where an old train depot stands in for the trail’s headquarters and information center (410-592-2897). Here you’ll find a bike shop that rents bicycles and canoes, as well as a small general store.

Related Links
Maryland DNR’s NCR Trail Map
Baltimore Convention and Visitors Association
Joe Sugarman has written about the Mid-Atlantic region as a producer with Microsoft’s online city guide Sidewalk.com and as an editor at Mid-Atlantic Country Magazine. His book City Smart: Baltimore, an opinionated guide to Charm City, publishes in May 2000.

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