Cross Island Trail:
Maryland
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Description:
Maryland's Cross Island Trail spans Kent Island in Queen Anne's County, providing multiple points of access to everything from libraries and schools, to ball fields and the waterfront. It's an impressively signed, well-maintained, beautiful community asset.
Begin at Terrapin Nature Park, a parcel of protected land for birds and native plant life. Just past the nature area, to the left of the trail, is an old graveyard with less than a dozen cracked and weather headstones tucked into the trees. If you can spot it, it's worth a peak. From here, the trail quickly winds through light residential neighborhoods and stands of white pines and hemlocks.
At the first mile marker, you come to Old Love Point Park, a recreation area with baseball and soccer fields. Continuing along, the trail passes through farm fields, and you'll be able to see a lighthouse in the distance that indicates how close you really are to the seashore.
At mile 3.8, you will have to do a short, back-road jog to reconnect with the trail, but a blue-painted bike lane makes this a simple transition. Back on the path, you'll come to a long wooden bridge that provides the first unhindered view of the water. This lovely expanse is a gem of the Cross Island Trail.
Before reaching the marina in Kent Narrows, you must head uphill to cross over the causeway on the parallel US Hwy. 50, where there is an extremely wide shoulder. At the marina, you have a choice: Head to the left to Chesapeake Exploration Center, or head the right to continue along the trail. Here, the trail becomes a series of sidewalks and access points to the waterfront and its restaurants and boat slips.
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Parking & Trail Access:
To reach the start at Terrapin Nature Park, from Annapolis, take US Hwy. 50 east to exit 37 (the first exit after crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge) and turn left onto MD Route 8. Follow Route 8 to the second light and turn left into Chesapeake Bay Business Park. Follow the road to the right around the circle until you come to Terrapin Nature Park. There is ample parking and portable toilets are at the trailhead.
To reach Kent Narrows, take US Hwy. 50 east from Annapolis. After crossing the Bay Bridge, travel across Kent Island. Cross the Narrows on a bridge and turn left onto MD Route 835 (Kent Narrows Road). Parking is to the left under the bridge.
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Reviews: [2 trail ratings]
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Good trail Poor Parking no trespassing after dusk
By shawnmoore in December, 2011
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.
Exquisite Scenic Run
By bernish in May, 2011
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.
Fantastic Scenery, smooth ride
By sioranth in August, 2010
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.
September 2008
Trail Facts
Trail End Points: Kent Island (Terrapin Nature Area) to Kent Island (Kent Narrows)
Counties: Queen Annes
Trail Length: 6 miles
Trail Category: Rail-Trail
Trail Surfaces: Asphalt
Trail Activities: Bike, Inline Skating, Wheelchair Accessible, Mountain Biking, Walking
TrailLink ID: 6016052