A cool summer day on the Chesapeake Bay to follow the Cross Island Trail on Kent Island and the Trails in Terrapin Nature Center. The Cross Island Trail is paved. The Nature Center Trails are crushed stone, oyster shell and some sand. Near Kent Narrows and the Visitors Center are some additional trails accessed via a wooden boardwalk and then crushed oyster shell paths. A scenic area for bike riding. Trails in wooded areas, near the water and bay and open sun. Many conveniences and restaurants or sit near the water and enjoy a picnic.
We've posted pictures, map, gps data etc. at :
http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1159372

Good trail Parts in need of new Pavement . Do not park in Terrapin Park the ranger loves to give Parking 50$ tickets. No Parking after dusk 4:30 no specified times just the term dusk. PLUS you will get a a big fat trespassing ticket for being in the park after dusk. So forget watching the sunsets on the bay.

I ran the portion from Castle Marina Rd west to Terrapin Beach Park. The trail provides an excellent mix of suburban (including ballparks and a school), wetlands, and meadow scenery. The Terrapin Beach Park is an underrated park in which the running/walking trails run right up to sandy beaches. Bucolic grassy side paths abound. While running, I passed two bucks on two separate occasions.

The only reason for the 4 star vs. 5 star rating is for the surrounding wastewater treatment. This abuts the trail near Terrapin Beach Park and emits a terrible odor. The port-a-lets give off a similar stench at Castle Marina. These are minor quibbles though. Traveling west on the trail past the ballfields, you can catch a glimpse of the stunning Chesapeake Bay Bridge jutting out amidst willow reeds. This is a fine eastern Maryland trail.

The most impressive things about this stretch of trail are the diverse scenery and fantastic weather thanks to coastal breezes. Biking the 6-mile stretch from Kent Narrows to Terrapin park was a breeze since it was a very slight downhill in that direction. There was plenty of eye candy along the way from shaded forest paths to open waterways to a park complete with courts and playground. There were a few street crossings but we only had to actually come to a full stop at one intersection. The traffic was light to nonexistent everywhere else, even on a Saturday.

We decided to do a loop of Terrapin Park after getting to the parking area there. This was confusing due to many small branch-offs of the main trail (which is not marked). We ended up going down some extremely narrow paths in the woods, across sand, shell, and gravel, and even just plain grass. We found some interesting places along the way and got an excellent workout in to boot. We ended up with two complete circuits on two different trails because of all the interconnections. Definitely a fun way to spend the better part of an hour! Be prepared to actually have to bike for this part of the trail though.

We took our 3-1/2-year-old along in the bike trailer (which -barely- fit on some of the paths we ended up on in the park), and he had a real blast when we stopped for lunch in a large grassy area with a bench overlooking the Bay Bridge across the Bay. There was plenty of room for him to run around and work off some energy of his own.

The paved part of the path did have quite a bit of debris on it in the areas that were under trees, totally expected and nothing unusual or too heavy. There wasn't too much traffic on the path and it was enough to pass when necessary. My only real complaint? People here were less friendly than I experienced on other trails where there's always a "good morning!" or "hi there!" from other bikers and walkers. It was much more a "keep to yourself" kind of place.

Parking on Kent Narrows: Coming from Annapolis, we got off at the Main Street East exit and turned right onto Main. At the Best Western we made another right and there was ample parking on the left under the bridge. There was a connection to the trail right there in the parking lot.

This is a great trail for everyone. It will take you through 5 different very unique habitats, which range from wildflower meadows, with an elevated platform to lookout from, wetlands, tidal ponds, with 2 blinds, woodlands & the beach. You can walk it, bike it, roll blade it or just make stops along the way as you drive & see a special location. There are benches along the entire trail to sit & relax & enjoy the scenery & wildlife. The trail has parking, restrooms, phone, food, bike shop, parks, benches, waterways, bridges & even hotels. There is something for everyone. There is a museum at the Kent Narrows end as well as another NEW park, Ferry Point Park, which just recently opened. It has been a migratory stop over for many birds each spring & fall.

This trail is also a great chance to do some geocaching with caches placed from 1 end to the other. It allows for some terrific photo ops as well. All in all a nice way to spend just a short visit or several hours to explore. ENJOY!

Fishing is expressly forbidden on all parts of the trail. The trail is designed for users to kep moving rather than standing around casting a line.

The trail is great for families and older people. Note that there are no off-trail activities around this piece of pavement.

9/2001 Trail has been extended to 4.5 mile stretching from Kent Narrows to the Bay. Good family recreation area. Well used on nice weekends.