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Baltimore
Area Trail Runs
Water and Latrines on the NCR Trail
The Northern Central Railroad Trail is one of the more popular training grounds for long runs in the Baltimore area.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when planning long runs on the trail.
Mile Markers--The Baltimore Road Runners Club has set mile markers all the way from the parking lot in Ashland to the Pennsylvania line.
They make it easy for the runner to keep track of distance and your pace.
The markers are gray posts about four feet tall with a number emblazoned on the upper sides.
That number represents the number of miles from the Ashland Parking Lot.
Heading north on the trail, the posts are on the right (eastern side) in the following locations for the southern end.
Mile One--just past the Lime Kiln and before the bridge over Gunpowder Falls.
Mile Two--next to bench at Phoenix Parking Lot.
Mile Three--north end of a small bridge with a bench.
Mile Four--about 1/4 mile north of Sparks parking lot. Surrounded by tall undergrowth during the summer.
Mile Five--in the middle of a long, slow curve with a horse pasture behind it.
This post is often obscured by undergrowth.
Mile Six--just past a bridge over the Gunpowder Falls.
Mile Seven--a 1/4 mile before Monkton Station.
Latrines/Spot-a-pots--
- 1/2 mile mark, the north side of Phoenix Road.
- At Sparks mile 3 3/4.
- At Monkton Station, mile 7 1/4.
- At White Hall, mile 10 3/4.
- At Parkton, mile 13.
- At Freeland, mile 18.
Water
- Fountain at Sparks parking lot behind the Nature Center, mile 3 3/4.
- Fountain at Monkton Station, mile 7 1/4.
- White Hall has contaminated ground water, but in an emergency you can check the tap behind the Post Office building at mile 10 3/4.
- There is a small store in Parkton, carry a little money to buy refreshments.
Running long from Ashland and Paper Mill Road means that there is no water other than what you carry from the last three and a half miles of the run.
Coupled with the beating sun and lack of shade in the last mile on a humid summer day, this can make for brutal long run.
Alternative strategies include parking at Phoenix, Sparks, or Monkton and planning your long run so that you pass water and latrines every few miles.
Example: Park at Phoenix, (mile 2), water at Sparks, water at Monkton, turn-around at the nine-mile post, water at Monkton, water at Sparks, fluids from the car at Phoenix, down to the one, back to Phoenix, total distance sixteen miles mostly in the shade with water about every three and a half miles.
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