Route:Torrey C. Brown NCR Rail Trail -> York County Heritage Rail Trail
Distance: 84 miles (with a side trip to the old stomping grounds)
Vertical: 1,880 feet (most of that was gained from the hotel we stayed at to the trail and then the side trip to our old house. It’s an almost completely flat trail with 1200-1300′ of gain over 82-83 miles)
Northern Central Railway (1858-1972)
Hugh and I realized we hadn’t been back to our hometown in almost 10 years and decided what better excuse than to head back with our bikes. We grew up in a town called Monkton, MD roughly 30 miles north of Baltimore. We had the privilege of living near the NCR Trail (full name the Torrey C. Brown Northern Central Railway Rail Trail) – the crown jewel of Northern Baltimore County. It stretches 40 miles from Cockeysville, MD to York, PA with plenty of history in between. It’s a cyclists dream – 80 roundtrip miles of crushed, smooth gravel that has replaced what was once railroad tracks, and since it follows a rail line, it’s basically completely flat. Much has been built up around the trail through the years – restaurants, breweries, parks, etc and it has really become a way of life for the people that live in the area.
Some quick history on the Northern Central Railway
I’m not going to geek out too bad on the history of this rail line. It obviously has a lot of sentimental value to me and my brother, but there are some cool nuggets of history that can be relevant to the masses. Built in the 1830’s, the NCR served as a line for farmer’s to move their crops between Baltimore and Philadelphia. Before Baltimore became the murder capital of the East Coast, it was one of the largest and fastest growing cities in the USA. While still a semi-decent city to visit, it’s a shadow of its former self, much like a lot of the industry-heavy rust belt cities of the region. It’s crazy to even think, as a former resident of the area, that a major train operated just a mile down the hill from my rural, quiet home as late as the 1960’s. Shows how much has changed in what seems like a short period of time. Just like Route 66 “The Mother Road” got overrun by Interstate-40 and eventually decommissioned, the NCR faced the same fate with the emergence of I-83 running from Balitmore to Harrisburg and was officially decommissioned after a hurricane in 1972.
Some actual relevant history: Abraham Lincoln’s connection to the rail line
Aside from my nostalgia and some general boring history, the NCR played a pretty important role in the 1860’s during the Civil War. President Abe Lincoln used the line from DC to a stop called Hanover Junction (just South of York) where he switched trains on his way to deliver the Gettysburg Address. Years later following his assassination by John Wilkes Booth, his body was transported from DC to his hometown in Illinois via the NCR. There were also some small battles fought along the rail line during the Civil War. Riding it today, many train station buildings have been restored – most notably in my local station of Monkton and then the town of New Freedom, the most southern town along the line in PA with a locomotive still used for tourism purposes between there and York. I took a video clip of the locomotive, but video files take up so much f’ing memory, I decided to not include.
The Trails Today
Almost immediately after the trains were decommissioned, PDOT in PA and the Maryland Dept of Natural Resources in MD got busy acquiring the land and converting it to a multi-use trail system. While the trails have different names and management, it’s still an unimpeded continuous crushed limestone trail from Cockeysville to York. The 13 miles of track continuing to Baltimore was made a Light Rail in the 1980’s, used primarily by Orioles/Ravens fans and crack heads – much like Denver’s RTD! On the ride to the airport, Hugh and I literally saw a guy doing lines of cocaine on the train in broad daylight. Great people watching.
The Ride
Since the trail is about as flat as the Highline Canal and straight as an arrow, there isn’t a ton to say here about the cycling other than you are pedaling for 5-6 hours straight., I will say, despite the 0.5% grade, it does feel slightly hard going up that over long distances, and you can “coast” going “down” it. I brought the wrong tires for the job that day, as I used my Specialized Tracer’s, which are a more aggressive gravel tire. I’d recommend more of a less rolling resistance tire (for anyone interested in an east coast rail trail) – something like a Specialized Pathfinder, Schwalbe G-1 RS or even a Semi-Slick Panaracer. Hugh was seemingly on a mission the whole day and I was more or less smelling the roses and taking tons of pics. It was also humid as f**k and you can feel it in some of these pics.
Lush forest along the trail near Monkton Station
Old Monkton Station along NCR – restored with a small museum inside
This abandoned ruin was a railroad workers home. According to the signage, he had 11 kids who somehow fit in there
Basically, from this picture of the Monkton Station, you can either ride 0.25 miles up the trail and take a local trail system to our old property. Or ride 1 mile of 12-14% grade paved roads. Northern Baltimore County is surprisingly undulating and has become very popular with cyclists. In fact its such a picturesque area it caught the attention of the UCI, who have been holding the last UCI sanctioned event in the USA here since 2021 – the Maryland Cycling Classic, which has included riders from Lidl-Trek, EF Easypost and others (Quinn Simmons, Neilson Powelson and Mattias Skjelmose have all been regulars at this event). Unfortunately due to losing sponsors, they had to cancel the 2026 edition, which would’ve been a 3-stage race.
Despite being mostly flat, there is a very small grade (less than 1%) that somehow culminates directly at the PA/MD border – better known as the “Mason Dixon Line“. And each segment is 20 miles each way, so it’s roughly 20 miles from the start in Cockeysville to the Mason Dixon, and then another 20 miles from Mason Dixon to York. So when riding the trail south to north, it’s “uphill” to the state line, “downhill” in to York, then vice versa with a roughly 20 mile “downhill” finish to the day . Hugh was training for the Vuelta or something, cause he set a grueling pace for the majority of the day, whereas I was trying to take it more leisurely and get some pics. Regardless, I’d like to return with more time and more attention dedicated to the history of this, and many other rail trails across this country.
The other main differences between the NCR Trail segment in MD and the York Heritage Trail in PA is the smoothness of the trail themselves. NCR/Maryland is more rough, crushed limestone and almost single track in sections. It has less towns and amenities and feels more “wild and remote”. Once in Pennsylvania, the differences become noticeable immediately, both in the smoothness and wideness of the trail, and the towns themselves. The “towns” in Maryland are more proximities than they are actual towns. Aside from the Monkton Station, the rest of the stops are just road crossings. The Pennsylvania section has 4 prominent old historic towns in New Freedom, Glen Rock, Seven Valleys and then finally York. New Freedom probably has the most historical stuff associated with it including a museum, restored station and an entire live rail yard with locomotives available to ride to York along the track that parallels the bike trail. That’s the other big difference – there are no tracks left anywhere along the Maryland section, and then a live track from New Freedom to York. We passed a train on the way back, full on steam powered locomotive, much like Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge.
This is the infamous “Gnome Hill” along the NCR. Managed and owned by a resident who lives right on the trail around White Hall, MD. I’ve never really understood the obsession some have with Gnomes, but this has become a bit of a destination for users of the trail over the years.
Gnome.
This was a restored 1930’s “electrical block signal” basically used as a telegraph message to ensure only 1 train occupied a section of track at a time and avoid collissions.
The Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail
Taking a break at the Mason Dixon Line – the official midpoint of the trail.
Howard Tunnel – the 2nd oldest active rail tunnel in the US (1838). It’s able to maintain its “active” status due to the fact its used for tourism purposes between New Freedom to York.
This is the restored train station at Hanover Junction where Abe Lincoln transferred trains en route to deliver his Gettysburg Address speech.
A typical farm scene along the trail somewhere along the PA section outside Seven Valleys.
A typical section of trail in PA. As you can see flat, wide and maintained
A typical section of trail in Maryland – not as smooth with a lush “tree canopy” blocking out the sun, so if you forget sunscreen, its not that big of a deal.
The Gunpowder River – the lifeblood of the MD NCR section and a place I spent the majority of my childhood exploring.
Tow Mater
the Iconic “bike sculpture” near York College
Wanted to take a moment and highlight Hugh’s refueling lineup – Sunkist, coffee, Gatorade, gummy peaches and peanut butter filled pretzels. Whatever he did was working cause he was bringing the pain on the pace on this day
This was my refuel right off the trail near New Freedom – an AleCraft IPA
And what would be a TR from me without some shots of cooling off in a river? A little quick history on this particular watering hole along the Gunpowder. On hot, humid summer days growing up, this was my go to spot along the trail to hop in the creek. I remember vividly riding to this spot the weekend after I got home from graduating college and reflected on the last 4 (in my case 5) years of my life and what was to come. This was always a place where I’d come to think and it for whatever reason always provided me with some kind of clarity in my life. It was at this very spot where I made the executive decision to move out to Colorado back in the summer of 2006, so it was very good to return here 20 years later. I am quietly a very nostalgic and sentimental person, and I hope to never lose that.
Anyways, on this day, it provided us a much needed reprieve from the humidity.
The river.
There’s been a sign up for as long as I can remember, warning people of this place being a “Copperhead snake den”. I’ve never seen one but always keeps me on edge.
End of the line
Last part: The Homeland
So aside from wanting to ride our bikes along the NCR/Heritage Rail Trail, our other motivation was to visit the house we grew up in and see a few friends. Here’s some shots of where I spent the first 25 years of my life.
Gerting Rd – small country road I would run on to train during the offseasons. Typical horse country and cornfields seen in the area. I got charged by a cow in the field to my right after staring one down (apparently cows don’t like to be stared at).
Gerting Rd near my house – this is where I got the courage to go fast on a bike. The grade here pushes 12% and extends for roughly a mile.
This was the top of Blue Mount Rd. It’s a steep grade climb that, when I was young, seemed like it went on forever. I always pat myself on the back when I could get all the way up this hill without stopping. The wind flowing through the cornfield was always a peaceful reward to the heart attack I just endured.
My childhood home – 17000 Wesley Chapel Rd. My room was the top floor in the front. The living room was the bottom floor. My brother and I spent the majority of our childhood watching all the classic 90’s movies, late night HBO, prank calling Chinese restaurants, playing Grand Theft Auto and watching College Lacrosse Final 4’s on Memorial Day weekend.
First off I apologize to Ben for taking up all this bandwidth on his server. I try to keep these TR’s brief these days, but this was a special trip and I didn’t know how to consolidate all these emotions. It’s very strange coming back to the place you were born, and all of a sudden you don’t feel like you belong anymore. Not that I felt unwelcomed, but this was the first trip back where my parents didn’t own our house anymore. I love calling Colorado home now, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that you are growing further and further away from a place that was once your sanctuary. It’s a lot like that Bill Bryson book “I’m a Stranger Here Myself” where he describes his return to his hometown in New Hampshire in the US after living abroad for years.
With that being said, I’m glad I was able to see my childhood through the lens of a bike. I’ve come to realize, aside from maybe the top of a mountain, there’s no better way to see the world than through a bike, (as long as you aren’t trying to keep up with a brother who is training for the Paris Roubaix). My hope in the near future is to continue to see the history of this country through these rail trails that a dedicated group of individuals have fought so hard to preserve. If nothing else its a nice change of pace from the oxygen deprived endless climbs of the Rockies. I don’t mind some flats, some cornfields, some 1800’s locomotives and a nostalgic trip back in time.
An antique tractor my Dad had restored and actually used in the fields behind our home, now standing guard as a decoration . I sliced my foot open on that thing when I was young and our dog Bud, the family lab, would bark at it too scared to go near it to retrieve the tennis balls we’d hide under it to torment him.