By the_mick in June, 2011
A nice easy out-and-back 4 mile ride starts from the Dixon Observation Park, following the BWI trail (S then E) for 1.25 miles, where it reaches a branching off of the BWI trail (to the left) and the B&A Trail (sharp right onto a bridge over I-97). If you follow the B&A Trail you come out behind the baseball fields at Sawmill Creek Park at the 2.04 mile mark. The only real hills are a very short one as you approach that 1.25 mile branching point and a relatively short one returning from Sawmill Creek Park as you climb to the middle of the bridge over I-97. Other than those hills there are some graded areas where you can get used to switching gears if you're new to biking and where, on non-peak periods, there are enough to straightaways to get used to traveling relatively fast.
By babeyruth in June, 2009
My hubby and I did the BWI trail on a Sunday morning in June around 0900 AM. We parked our car on the side rode of Elkridge Landing where other cars were parked. We are recreational bikers just now getting into biking about a month ago. he drove a hybrid bike while I have a simple mountain type bike.
We had great fun, we only did the BWI loop, and that was enough for a hot day. If you start at Elkridge Landing, there is a park at almost exactly the mid way point, where you can take a rest and go to the restroom. There were some joggers and other bikers, but nothing overly packed at all. I really love riding where I didn't have to worrry about dodging cars. There were only a few cross overs of streets, that had little traffic. If you start the by heading northeast, you don't hit the long hill until the end, it was rough for us, but probably much simple for more experienced bikers. I hope we did this again next weekend, and we'll how it work going the oppposite way. I do suggest you bring you own water to cool down and take breaks. it only took us about 1.5 hours with water breaks, what was funning is seeing the same bikers passing us a couple of times...now they were experienced!
By NatalieFriton in February, 2009
I have run the B&A only a handful of times and most recently for the upcoming 2009 marathon. I have a blog post that details my most recent run: http://nataliefriton.com/batrail and also shares an idea about ways in which the conditions of the trail could be reported for trail users to check before heading out.
I am not aware of any existing services that update trail conditions on a daily or regular basis and think this could be a huge advantage for trail users. The majority of the trail I used on Feb. 1 was fine but because of recent weather conditions there were still stretches that were icy and slippery that might have been good to know about ahead of time.
I'm grateful for the trash cans along the trail and wonder if there has ever been discussion about including a port-a-pot or two along the route.
Natalie Friton
Arnold, MD
@NatalieFriton