Western Maryland Rail Trail

The Western Maryland Rail Trail is a 22.5-mile long shared-use asphalt-paved rail trail from Fort Frederick to Pearre Station, Maryland, United States, that is suitable for walkers, joggers, bikers, rollerbladers and, weather permitting, cross country skiing and snowshoeing.

The trail runs on the abandoned right-of-way of the Western Maryland Railway's West Subdivision. The line was officially abandoned in 1975 and the final train on the line, a work train that removed the rails between Big Pool and Tonoloway, was run in December 1988. The portion through the C&O Canal National Park reverted to the Park Service in 1980. In August 1990, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources purchased the right-of-way from 1/2 mile west of Fort Frederick State Park to Little Orleans through Hancock from CSX Transportation. Construction began on the first ten-mile section from Fort Frederick to Hancock in 1997 and was completed in 1998. The second section, running 10.3 miles from Hancock to Pollypon, a small body of water where canal boats would winter, began in 2001 and opened on June 10, 2002. Construction began on the third section, a 2.1-mile extension from Pollypon to Pearre Station in 2003 and it opened in 2005.

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