Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Trail facts for kids
Quick facts for kids WB&A Trail |
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|---|---|
| Length | 10.25 mi (16.50 km) |
| Location | Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties, Maryland, USA |
| Trailheads | Annapolis Rd and Seltzer St Lanham, Maryland 38°57′29″N 76°49′29.4″W / 38.95806°N 76.824833°W Odenton Rd and Piney Orchard Pkwy Odenton, Maryland 39°5′2.2″N 76°42′0.5″W / 39.083944°N 76.700139°W |
| Use | Hiking, biking |
| Difficulty | Easy |
| Season | Year-round |
| Sights | Patuxent River, Little Patuxent River |
| Hazards | Tick-borne diseases Limited water Poison ivy Venomous snakes |
The Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Trail (WB&A) is a fun rail trail in Maryland. It's about 10.25-mile (16.50 km) long. You can find it between Lanham and Odenton. Even though its name mentions big cities like Washington, Baltimore, and Annapolis, the trail doesn't actually go to them! Its name comes from an old electric railway.
The trail is currently in two separate parts. One part is in Anne Arundel County. The other is in Prince George's County. A missing bridge over the Patuxent River keeps them apart. But don't worry, plans are in place to connect them soon!
The WB&A Trail is also part of two much bigger trails. It's part of the East Coast Greenway. This huge trail stretches from Calais, Maine all the way to Key West, Florida. It's also part of the American Discovery Trail. This trail goes across the entire country! It starts at the Atlantic coast in Delaware and ends in San Francisco, California.
Contents
Places You Can Visit on the Trail
The WB&A Trail passes through several towns and areas. If you start from the south and head north, you'll go through:
- Lanham (where the trail begins)
- Glenn Dale
- Bowie (the Huntington Section)
- Piney Orchard
- Odenton (where the trail ends)
Exploring the Trail: What You'll See
The WB&A Trail is currently split into two main sections. One section runs from Lanham to the Patuxent River. This part is in Prince George's County. The other section goes from the Patuxent River to Odenton. This part is in Anne Arundel County.
Lanham to Bowie Section
This part of the trail starts near Lanham. It runs northeast, often next to large power lines. You'll pass by the old Glenn Dale Hospital. This hospital is now closed. There's parking nearby if you want to start your adventure here.
The trail sometimes shares its path with local streets. It also goes under MD 193 through a short tunnel. As you continue, you'll cross several small streams. You'll also see different suburban neighborhoods. The trail uses cool truss bridges to cross roads like Hillmeade Road. It also crosses over a CSX railway line.
Near Bowie, the trail goes past the Bowie Golf and Country Club. It crosses MD 197 using a very long truss bridge. This is the longest bridge on the whole trail! This section ends at a parking lot after going under Race Track Road.
Bowie to the Patuxent River Section
From the parking lot, the trail continues towards the Patuxent River. You'll find a side trail here called the WB&A Spur Trail. It's about 1.3 miles long. This spur trail goes through Patuxent River Park. It also goes through the Fran Uhler Natural Area.
The main trail then continues a short distance. It ends at a turnaround point near the Patuxent River. You can see the old supports of the railway bridge here. On the other side of the river, you can see where the trail will eventually continue.
Patuxent River to Odenton Section
This part of the trail starts on the Anne Arundel County side of the Patuxent River. It takes a winding path away from the old railway line. The trail climbs a steep hill from the river. It then crosses Conway Road.
It goes through an area called The Villages at Two Rivers. Then it turns north. It eventually rejoins the old WB&A Railroad path on Bragers Road. This part of the trail goes through forests and wetlands. You'll cross the Little Patuxent River on a new truss bridge.
Near Piney Orchard, the trail passes the Piney Orchard Nature Preserve. You'll find side trails that lead into the preserve. The trail then goes through the heart of Piney Orchard. It's still surrounded by natural areas.
As you get closer to Odenton, you'll cross Waugh Chapel Road. Here, you need to use the sidewalk to cross the road. The trail then goes under Old Waugh Chapel Road through another tunnel. It continues through more neighborhoods. Finally, the trail ends at Odenton Road. From here, you can follow a sidewalk or a shared path. This path will eventually connect to the South Shore Trail.
A Look Back: The Trail's History
The WB&A Trail gets its name from an old electric railway. This railway was called the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Electric Railway. From 1908 to 1935, electric trains used this path. They carried people between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. Parts of this same old railway path are also used by the Baltimore & Annapolis Trail.
In the mid-1980s, a person named Morris Warren started pushing for the trail. He wanted to turn the old railway path into a trail. In 1991, plans were made to open the trail in Prince George's County. Around the same time, Anne Arundel County also started planning their section.
The first part of the trail opened on November 8, 2000. This was a 5.6-mile (9.0 km) section in Prince George's County. It went from MD 450 in Glenn Dale to Race Track Road in Bowie. This section was later extended to the Patuxent River in 2005. A special spur trail was also built in 2016.
Construction on the Anne Arundel County part of the trail began in 2003. The first section opened in 2004 in Odenton. It linked Waugh Chapel Road to Strawberry Lake Road. More sections were added over the years. In 2006, the trail was extended to Odenton Road. In 2007, it reached Conway Road. This part included two new bridges, one over the Little Patuxent River. The final section to the Patuxent River was finished in 2016.
The Trail's Future
The biggest plan for the WB&A Trail is to connect its two separate parts. This means building a bridge over the Patuxent River. As of 2020, this bridge is still being planned. It will be about 544 feet long. Construction is expected to start in early 2020. The bridge could open by early to mid-2021. This will finally connect the whole trail!
There are also plans for new sections and connections:
- A new 2.06-mile spur will be built east of the current trail. It will connect to the South Shore Trail.
- The South Shore Trail will eventually connect the WB&A Trail to Annapolis.
- The Bowie Heritage Trail will connect the WB&A Trail to Bowie State University. It will also connect to the Bowie MARC train station.
- There are ideas to extend the trail north to the BWI Trail.
- Plans also exist to extend the trail south. This extension would go to the Marvin Gaye Park Trail in Washington, D.C. A study was done in 2018 to see if this is possible.
