On the Trail of the Lower NCR: Ashland to Mile Marker 10

I’ve blogged about riding on the NCR several times before (check out here), but with today’s ride, I’ve now ridden almost the entire Maryland length of the NCR Trail (except for 1 mile). The plan for this ride was to meet at the parking lot off of Paper Mill Road in Ashland, then bike up to mile marker 10, and turn around: an easy 18 miles.

During previous rides, we saw posts with W emblazoned on it, and I couldn’t understand what that meant. W for west? But they faced in both directions (besides, the trail runs north/south not east/west). I found the answer recently while reading about the Western Maryland Rail Trail: the W stands for “whistle,” as in “blow the.”


Where: 1235 Paper Mill Trail, Ashland, MD

Hours: Dawn to dusk

Dogs: Absolutely. We saw dog walkers, joggers with dogs, and even a cyclist with a happy dog jogging along!


Follow the MidAtlantic Day Trips Blog on FacebookTwitterInstagram, and LinkedIn.