Torrey Brown Trail

The Torrey Brown is a 20 mile rail-trail between the PA-MD line and Hunt Valley, MD, just north of Baltimore. The trail was originally called the NCR Trail (Northern Central Railroad) and you may still see signs and other references to the NCR name. The northern end of the trail connects to the York Heritage Trail in PA near New Freedom, PA. The trail is one segment of the East Coast Greenway.

Most of the trail runs along Gunpowder River and is part of Gunpowder Falls State Park. The usual hiking, jogging and cycling users are often seen. It should be noted that the trail is open to horseback ridding but I have not seen anyone doing so in the few times I have ridden it.  

As with most trails, the Torrey Brown is equipped with mile markers, stop signs at road crossings, porta potties, picnic tables and so forth. Class 1 e-bikes are permitted. The trail is open sunrise to sunset.

The Mason-Dixon line (PA-MD boarder) is the highest elevation for the trail. It is a gradual downhill from there to Hunt Valley. The combination of this trail with the York Heritage Trail is part of the Rail-Trail Hall of Fame.

The trail surface well packed dirt or crushed limestone. It is all hard packed and has very few low spots for water to accumulate. I used my hybrid with 40mm tires and felt very comfortable. I am sure a road bike would be fine but it would not be my first choice.

More information about the trail may be found on the Gunpowder Falls State Park webpage. Here is a Google map with elevation profile.

Here is a video from my YouTube channel: Marks Bike Tock

Notice the north arrow on top of the mile markers.

Purple Paint

You may see rectangles painted with purple paint along the trails. In Pennsylvania and many other states this means NO TRESPASSING.  This is equivalent to posting signs that say no trespassing. Please be respectful of land owner's wishes and stay on the trail.

You can read more about PA's version here.

Ridin' the Rails

Revolution Rail is a company offering railroad pedal cars to ride the rails. The company has two locations: Cape May, NJ and near Lake George, NY. My family and I visited their Lake George location. The rail cars have two and four seat versions. Everyone can assist with pedaling but only one person operates the brakes.

The cars operate on a leased section of track where there aren’t any regular trains. I typically ride on rail-trails and was not impressed with the scenery on this corridor. It was a fun experience and it was nice to do with my family who do not regularly ride. At one point in the ride I was chastised for pedaling too fast. I replied I was not the only one pedaling. Together they replied … yes … you are.

As you can imagine with this set up you can only go as fast as the car in front of you since you can not pass. You also must be careful of the car in front unexpectedly slowing. Riders are instructed to use hand signals to warn the car behind you if you slow.

The ride is an out and back. At the far end riders get off and stretch near the river. The guides use the time to place each car on a turntable and reverse direction. The experience was a fun time with the whole family. Several other companies are offering or planning to offer this type of ride in other locations. I have heard there is one operating in the redwood forest in California. I will be adding that to my to do list for sure.

Here is a small sampling of companies doing this. Many have multiple locations. If you don't see one near you or your destination do a Google search. More companies are starting up all over.

https://americanrailbike.com/

https://soarineagle.com/

https://hoborr.com/rail-bike-adventures/

https://www.skunktrain.com/railbikes/

https://scenicrailriders.com/

https://www.railexplorers.net/locations

https://www.revrail.com/

https://tracksandyaks.com

Here is a short YouTube clip: https://youtu.be/ZQj5Agnmbgs 

Upper Bucks Trail

 

The Upper Bucks Trail is a new trail that opened in November, 2020.  This trail directly connects to the Saucon Trail in Coopersburg, PA. The trail uses a trail surface aggregate that results in a smooth ride into Veteran’s Memorial Park in Quakertown, PA. It includes 800 feet of teak boardwalk. The trail is less than 5 miles but if you do out and back and include the Saucon Trail you can have a nice ride. The trail is part of The Circuit a network of hundreds of miles of multi-use trails in the Greater Philadelphia Area.

The Boardwalk

Check out a video of my entire ride on my YouTube channel, Marks Bike Tock - Upper Bucks.

Graffiti Highway

 There is a section of PA state route 61 near Centralia, PA that was abandoned due to an underground mine fire. If fact the entire town of Centralia was also abandoned but that that is another story. The abandoned section of highway became a haven for graffiti. The graffiti became so pervasive that it started attracting visitors from a very wide area. It became so busy that the current owner became concerned with liability and decided to cover the road with dirt and plant trees. A few weeks before that happened I decided to take my bike to ride the Graffiti Highway. It was a short ride but incredible quantities of graffiti. Here are some pictures:

 

Here is a video from my YouTube channel: Mark's Bike Tock

Painted Rocks

It is fairly common to see painted rocks along rail-trails in northeastern Pennsylvania. Some are painted by children, others are a hobby of adults. Many of the ones pictures below seem to be from high school students possibly as an art assignment. I am just speculating about the latter. I always find these as a pleasant surprise. The best part is less the stones and more the fact that someone took the time to improve the trail experience.

Please comment if you have seen painted rocks along the trails you frequent.