The Baltimore county side of the NCR trail. Well its called something else now they named it after someone but to me its the NCR trail. The trail runs from Baltimore through Pennsylvania and stops in York City, like Baltimore its the part of the trail you don’t want to be on.
Trailhead for the NCR is accessed at least where I explore is in Hunt Valley. This is the land of the privileged, so lots of people use the trail for their walks with Starbucks coffee and do there running with running shoes that cost more than my car. Mostly married plastic filled females since their husbands are working and they don't so they just hit the trail to stay in shape and complain about everything.
Aside from the people, the trail is interesting. It followed the original North Central railroad however on the Maryland side they did not preserve any of the history. Its there only if you look. The Pennsylvania side is amazing the entire trail is actually a living history. They even have a actual train that was restored from the time and runs along the original tracks.
With Maryland’s side of the tracks, you have to keep a eye out, off the trail. While it is respectable the state put the old tracks to use as a county park they seemed to have forgotten the real history and its there. Yes, I walked and biked this trail for years as well. I know of many structures that are hidden as well as other trails I believe maybe only a handful of people know about. This post is about our little adventure on Saturday April 3rd.
As you enter the regular rail trail and navigate through the bikers, walkers and old bitties keep a eye out on the left. There is a lot of forested areas and watch for the ridge line to rise. See that side has many residential developments. But it is buffered by County park property. A fire road is cut through the forest and that's the trail you want. What I believe is this fire break is a original road that parallels the trail back in the day. They might have used it to build the original railroad or it was used to bring things off the trains and to the farms.
The trail is not too long maybe a mile maybe a little longer depending on where you start or maybe you continue past the trail. There are a few inclines but nothing at all heart stopping, Well maybe for Sarah….Anyways…I walked the trail with the metal detector and it really don’t take long to get hits. Lots of Iron, lots of railroad spikes. However there is lots of machinery parts that look like they came off of rail cars. Old hooks, old chains and the sort. We did find a .223 round and we also found a very good horseshoe as well as a bridal bell.
During the hike, further in we got many solid hits both of iron and silver however they were more than 8 inches deep. As someone who metal detects I respect the land and always cover my holes, you would never know where I dug. Having said that anything that is too deep we did not dig up. Last time years ago I ran the detector through a area and came up with a old gate that looks like it was from a farm. Time was limited for this trip and I could not get as far as I would have liked. There is also a spot I found that was used by teenagers who partied every night there and they said no one ever bothered them or knew they were there. I know this because they had a tent set up as well as a journal that I read. Really would like to find that spot again.
Its places like this that remind me of my philosophy, Keep your eyes open. Follow no one. Make your own paths. Do not follow the norm. Live your life and never take the same paths everyday. Get lost, find your way and enjoy the things no one else sees.
