I road this trail today. The first item of note is the road is closed about 1 mile on the North Extension, that is a mile North of Route 30. You can ride from John Rudy County park to the closure. There may be a work around at the railroad bridge to the route 30 Parking lot. I started at the route 30 parking lot and went South to New Freedom. I would not recommend riding in this direction. The last section from about MP 5 up to New Freedom is uphill about a 6% grade. It is best to ride starting in New Freedom and biking to York. Also, The bike trail through York going South is a bit confusing through the town. At one point the RR track area was closed; however, the detour South was not clear. Okay

They allow ebikes as long as one observes the speed limits and rides courteously. Being able to ride to the Mall in DC and back is great exercise too. Path users are courteous and the Pedego Ebike Rental Shop is great when you have guests who want to join you. Bethesda food is a nice reward after the ride too. A favorite trail!

Es un sendero poco transitado, con tramos muy hermosos. Disfrute muchísimos caminarlo.

Tranquilo y sencillo para caminar. El estar junto al río hace muy grata la caminata o paseo en bici.

There is a newly opened nicely done parking lot at the Chesapeake City trail head one block up from Schaefers Restaurant.
Nice fully blackedtoped trail, two hills, but the rest very flat.

Parked only to find a trail closed sign and some construction equipment on it. This is the center street end. The park end was blocked due to a long line of cars for a recycle event.

Starting at the south end, it's really quite a nice ride -- a paved surface in fairly reasonable shape, well-marked with a red centerline to help you find your way, winding through a mix of suburban and wooded areas as you make your way upstream.

But between NH Ave and the Beltway the paving ends quite suddenly. Despite the markings on the map, the paving does NOT pick back up again. If you have a pretty serious mountain bike with aggressive tires -- and an interest in wearing yourself out -- you might be able to keep going.

The map says this is a 7 mile trip. That may well be the case for the pavement, but the map then shows the trail goes on up to Wheaton and Layhill. The written description notes it's closed to bikes, but the map seems to suggest otherwise.

Maybe this trail should be broken into two parts to avoid confusion for folks like me! The hiking part is pretty rugged but quite beautiful . . .

I'm normally a bike trail reviewer, but pleased to see my local trail haunt listed here. The description is pretty accurate, more of a walking/jogging trail than a bike trail, but definitely a peaceful retreat in the suburbs. Pros: plentiful parking, easy gradient, abundant wildlife. Cons: not a very long trail (4 miles is a stretch even if you connect the looped paths), prone to erosion, puddles, and fallen trees/limbs (although cleanup is prompt). It's mostly wooded views with some traffic noise in areas, but no majestic vistas here. There are regular dog walkers like me, bird watchers, and families. I often see foxes, and the resident deer herd coexists well with humans. My canine companion and I come at least 3x a week, and walk approx 3 miles each time, so I figure we covered over 5k miles in the past 12 years (astonishing at how it adds up).

The National Central Railroad Trail (aka Torrey C. Brown Tail) runs north-south and connects Hunt Valley, Maryland with York, Pennsylvania. It is approximately 45 miles in length and the terrain is completely flat. Once in Pennsylvania, the trail becomes the Heritage Rail Trail County Park. The NCR runs next to the Big Gunpowder Falls River and there are a fair number of rest stops with bathroom facilities, as well as benches and picnic tables, along the way.
There are numerous places to enjoy the river’s beautiful views and the sounds of rushing water. If you are hungry and want to stop, there are cafés in Monkton, MD, New Freedom and Glen Rock, Pa. Trail highlights include the Howard Tunnel, the NCR Train (a real old-timey train that follows the same route that carried President Lincoln to Gettysburg where he delivered his address) and smaller two-person rail cars on the tracks. Additionally, there are bridges, beautiful corn and wheat fields and mile after mile of actual active railroad tracks. And, at the 11-mile mark north from Hunt Valley, there is Gnome Hill, a 10-foot high hill with hundreds of garden gnomes to check out. There is also a water and snack station at Gnome Hill. (Just watch out for deer crossing there.)
The trail is very well shaded and consists of a mix of crushed limestone and hard dirt. Even on 90-degree days, the temperature on the trial is extremely tolerable. Once you cross into Pennsylvania and approach York, there are large sections that are paved. The trail can be accessed from several locations with parking lots in Hunt Valley, Sparks, Monkton, Parkton, New Freedom and elsewhere. Foot traffic can be heavy on the weekends particularly between Hunt Valley and Sparks, and again North of Monkton for two miles.
There is a popular brewery not far from the trail in Parkton, MD.