Explore the best rated trails in Sykesville, MD, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Torrey C. Brown Rail Trail and Grist Mill Trail at Patapsco Valley State Park . With more than 123 trails covering 4680 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
I walked this trail a few times and absolutely love it, very peaceful.
Great walk to end the month on. Beautiful scenery mostly flat.
The path in some areas were easily accessible and shown however coming from takoma the signage was not very well maintained…the bike trail was on side and the signage on the opposite side. Luckily I know the area to get to the actual trail. Other than that, it was a pleasant bike trail.
The Washington & Old Dominion is the best trail hands down. It is also one of the busiest trails that hosts running clubs, cycling clubs, nature walkers, neighborhood walkers, walking and biking commuters and is at its busiest before 7 am in extreme heat.
What makes this 44 mile trail so unique is the amenities that sit along side of it making it the best trail to plan an activity on with family and friends. Just pick a city that you want to visit and you can find convenience stores adjacent to the trail within walking distance as well as myriad of restaurants for all ages, ice cream parlors, grooming services, bike shops and over the past few years breweries have been added to the scenery right on the trail.
The location is prime to the cities of Northern Virginia with access to getting into Washington DC to see the monuments and Hains Point. Nothing beats the W&OD Trail!
I start at Red Hill Road parking lot in Pequa and do the 20 mile round trip to Turkey Hill and back, it is flat, no potholes or surprises and glorious. Two bridges, 5 miles each way along the river, often a train, many groups of rock climbers on the weekend. Just glorious. If you want to add miles, going west is level and wooded. Some might say boring however I find it cool, refreshing and safe. My favorite trail!
A lot of trail damage from storms in July 2025 makes for a very rough ride. Rough hard gravel, very bumpy ride. Could be dangerous if riding fast. My friends and I have moved to the Pa Heritage Rail Trail. NCR is more beautiful though rough. Would love to know if/when trail damage will be smoothed out. Got to be a budget for repair
Nice wide open relatively flat trail. It is after all a rail trail. After the 22 mile mark it turned pretty rough. Large gravel,mud…. I turned back….was hoping to take this to the end near gap. I do enjoy this rail trail. Well maintained nice country & river view for first several miles
Parked at Carroll Park to get on the trail and I’ll never do that again. Credit to the numerous homeless people gathered around and the guy actively infecting drugs into his arm for not breaking into my car for the 90 minutes I was on the trail. Graffiti everywhere and quite a bit of trash. Once you get to Leakin Park it’s actually pretty nice. I’m pretty new to Baltimore and I’m really hoping it has better bike trails to offer than this.
A detailed description of this trail can be read from my August 2016 review. It is still a pretty trail offering a good workout! As mentioned in my title, most of the wide open views of the trail have disappeared due to the growth of foliage. In fact, I didn't even recognize the trail! After crossing over Valley road, the trail is almost continuously ascending to its endpoint. On my first outing on this trail, the Valley trailhead parking lot and the half moon section of the trail on the northwest side of Valley road was gravel. It is NOW asphalt. There is a lot more vegetation along the trail making it difficult to see the creek from which the trail was named after. The trail is well maintained. One interesting observation on this outing is that the 0.81 mile section from the Water Street Trailhead (Spring Township York Water treatment facility) to its terminus has posted signs of "Temporarily Closed to Pedestrian Traffic". I don't know the reasoning for the temporary closure. The trail was wide open without any impediments or obstructions. If fact, this section was one of the prettier pieces of the trail.
We started this path from the Conowingo dam parking lot. We had to move through a group of turkey vultures to get to the trailhead. It was a beautiful fall day and the trail was clear of most debris. There are quarter mile markers. While we were out, several bikers were also on the trail. We took several side trails to the river to see other wildlife and to get some sun. The deep canopy of the trail blocks much of the sun making this an easy stroll in 80 degree weather.
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