The First Mile of a New Trail
In New England where I grew up, everyone knew everyone else and you always got a friendly nod or a smile, especially if you were out walking the family pooch or trekking to school in inclement weather. I loved running down country roads, knowing I’d likely see someone I knew at some point along my route.
We’re lucky that way in Annapolis, too. An abundance of trails and sidewalks make Maryland’s capital city a walking- and running-friendly town.
Now the first mile of a new trail offers the same sense of friendliness to Arnold. On the Broadneck Peninsula Trail, dog-walkers and runners exchange nods and smiles, despite chilly weather.
“We are very happy with the use of the trail,” which opened last year, says Anne Arundel County Parks Administrator Mark Garrity. “It has been extremely successful for people getting to Broadneck High School and the Broadneck Library.”
The Broadneck Peninsula Trail is now just over a mile long, running between Cape Saint Claire Road and Green Holly Drive. The next stage will extend the trail to the Bay Dale area, making the College Parkway corridor walkable. Eventually the trail will connect the Broadneck Peninsula to the B&A trail.
That eventual link will connect Sandy Point State Park to the B&A trail for a 10-mile bonus. The B&A trail will connect the Broadneck Peninsula Trail to the East Coast Greenway, a trail extending from Maine to Florida.
But longer distances take longer. “It’s way out in the future,” Garrity says.
Still, the Broadneck Peninsula Trail will take you places. The American Hiking Society has included it as a part of the American Discovery trail, stretching from California to Delaware.