VOLUME 1 / ISSUE 1 WINTER 2024
COMMUNITY
BY JUDY COLBERT THE B&A TRAIL: A STORIED HISTORY
When you want to combine physical exercise and a mental workout, head to the Baltimore and Annapolis (B&A) Trail. You can bicycle, inline skate, walk, learn about the solar system, study local history, garden, or attend a concert. This delightful 13.3-mile , eight-foot-wide paved path runs between Boulters Way in Arnold and Dorsey Road in Glen Burnie using the former railbed right-of-way of the old Baltimore and Annapolis Short Line Railroad. Starting in 1887, the train carried passengers and freight between Annapolis and Baltimore. It changed hands and names several times, eventually becoming the Baltimore & Annapolis Railroad in 1935. Business boomed, serving as many as a reported 1,750,000 passengers a year , then petered off following World War II. Passenger service ceased on February 5, 1950, and freight service was gone after the Severn River trestle was damaged in 1969.
Railroads across the country were facing similar demises and the answer of what to do with the land was a Rails-to- Trails program. The Severna Park Jaycees initiated the conversion of the abandoned and overgrown railbed in 1972, tending to it until Anne Arundel County Parks took control. Members of local Jaycees groups continued their involvement and in 1990, installed mile markers every half- mile. Historical markers line the path of the 112-acre linear park, labeled from A to Z, from south to north; the markers were designed and placed as an Eagle Scout service project by William Brian Sanders of Boy Scout Troop No. 1785 (of Pasadena, Maryland) in 1993. Along the way, you’ll come across Planet Walk , sponsored by NASA, at the suggestion of Stan Lebar, NASA employee and first president of the Friends of Anne Arundel County Trails. The Walk is a built-to-scale representation of the Solar System. Check the calendar for an annual Planet Walk day which takes place in the spring with lectures, exhibits, and other activities.
Photos courtesy of Chelsea Harrison
At the halfway point is the trail’s ranger station and museum, a circa 1889 general store. You can use the restrooms, refill your water bottle, and pick up a brochure about the historical markers. Parking lots located directly along the trail include the B&A Trail Station (51 W Earleigh Heights Rd, Severna Park) and a small lot at Jones Station Rd & Baltimore Annapolis Blvd/MD 648 in Severna Park.
B&A Trail 51 West Earleigh Heights Road Severna Park, MD 21146 410-222-6244 Open daily from sunrise to sunset 24
Photos courtesy of Chelsea Harrison
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