College Park Trolley Line Trail

The College Park Trolley Line Trail provides a safe pathway for students, from kindergartners to doctoral candidates, to walk and bike to school in College Park. The short, paved trail follows the route of the trolley that once ran from Washington, DC, to Laurel between 1903 and the mid-1950s. With service roads on both sides of the trail, trail users have easy access to three schools, and there is a partial route for college students heading to nearby University of Maryland.

Of course, you don't have to be earning a degree to use the trail. Local residents use the path for after-dinner walks, commuters take it as a shortcut to the Metrorail system and house cats find it a good place to wait for an indulgent hand to give them a pat. The trail sits on a raised berm and crosses several quiet neighborhood roads, where you can easily pick up the pathway. Plans are underway to pave the section between Calvert Road and Paint Branch Parkway; anticipated completion is summer 2013. Phase 5 will add another 2 block section in the Lakeland area.

Mostly shaded nearly all year by walnut, maple and flowering trees that tower near the trail from neighboring yards, the rail-trail also serves as something of a home-and-garden tour. Residents of the quirky Sears bungalows and rambling colonials along the trail use their yards to showcase their green thumbs. Additionally, several businesses within a block of trail, including an impressive herb shop and a corner convenience store, provide diversions during a short stroll.

To get to the start point from Washington's Beltway, Interstate 495, take Exit 25B south on State Route 1. Turn right onto Berwyn House Road and look for the trailhead on the right in two blocks. Parking is on the street.