Mckeldin to Avalon

[Balto Charlie]

I've been slowly mnt. biking my way from avalon to Mckeldin areas of Patapsco Pk. With the (hopefully) soon to be completed trail at Illchester, complete passage thru' may be possible. I'm a little fuzzy on the arae N. of rt. 40 to johncake rd. Occasionally one must ride on road for short distances but mostly dirt. Anyone know if the area above rt 40 is passable to Johnnycake? One may actually be able to ride from Liberty dam to Avalon. What's the story on the area above McKeldin to the dam?? I shall continue to explore until a passage is found:-) Balto Charlie

[riderx]

I have done exactly what you speak of. I currently have a 50 mile round trip loop from Avalon to McKeldin and back, 85-90% off-road with lots of juicy singletrack. I put this together through trial and error excursions and with the help of a newly available map that shows every trail in the park. In putting this together, I did a one way (shuttle) trip from Avalon through McKeldin on to Sykesville which was 32 miles one way. You can read my tale of that trip here (http://forums13.consumerreview.com/crforum?[email protected]^428938@. ef6781d) and one of the other rider's tales here (http://forums13.consumerreview.com/crforum?[email protected]^428937@. ef68ca9/5). You will specifically read some of the difficulties we encountered in the Rt. 40 to Johnnycake section. I have since revised that part of the route and now climb out of the river valley to the rt. 40 bridge and cross to the Howard County side, hook up with some singletrack in that piece of the park, then some powerlines to get you out to Rt. 70, then descend to the river valley, riding the dirt/rocks parralleling the train tracks over to the Daniels area.

Regarding the Illchester area, there is no need to wait or worry about the so called "trail" (pavement) they are putting in. There is currently a way to take singletrack almost all the way to where River Road meets Frederick Rd. From there you cross Frederick and hook into some fireroad/powerlines/singletrack that helps you avoid some road riding to get you into Oella.

There is much more detail to this and I haven't had the time to scan a map in highlighting the route, but if you get the Patapsco Park map I'd be glad to meet you for a beer and show you the whole deal.

My goals in mapping the route was to avoid as much pavement as possible and ride a challenging mtb route. So, there is plenty of climbing and technical stuff and it is not the most direct route - it climbs out of and descends into the river valley many times. If you want the most direct route, you could certainly stay down around river level for most of the trip, utilizing the railroad bed where there is no trail.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to contact me at riderx @ singlespeedoutlaw.com

[Balto Charlie]

Thanks for the info. Maybe we can go for a ride and you can show me the way. At Illchester do you stay on the Balto county side climb up to the parking lot at Hilltop, ride hilltop turn left into the woods? This takes you to river or thistle rd. very close to Elicott City. At rt. 40 you go to the Howard Co. side then into Patapsco park?? near the ranger station then down to the river?? That's a horrible part of rt 40. From what you wrote I guess you then climbed out of the river valley to I70. This is the part I am really clueless on. We need to talk. Thanks I'll send you an email. Balto Charlie