The NCR Trail owes its existance to the devastating floods caused by the Agnes Hurricaine in 1972. Prior to that week when the hurricaine was downgraded to a tropical storm and sat stalled over a wide area of the mid-eastern United States, the Northern Central Railroad operated dual tracks along the Patapsco River through northern Baltimore County. From Cockeysville and north to the Pennsylvania-Maryland state line, the railroad became the NCR Trail. From Cockeysville and south, it has become the Light Rail transit line that extends from Hunt Valley into the Inner Harbor. The Light Rail line continues south the BWI airport along other former and shared railroad rights of way.

Ashland, MD is the name of the official southern terminus of the NCR Trail, but with only a few parking spaces located in a residential community, most visitors start 1/2 mile north at Sparks Road. Ironically, my first exposure to the NCR Trail was two days after the Isabel Hurricaine that slammed the NC coast line and penetrated through Central Maryland and onward into Pennsylvania and New York providing more wind damage than water to the area. Yes, the coastal areas and the tidal zone around the Chesapeake Bay got a lot of flooding from the storm surge, but most everywhere else was spared. Widespread and long duration power outages were more the bane of the days (week) that followed.

Immediately after the storm, the trail was closed due to downed trees. But within the two days, volunteers had the trail open for its full Maryland stretch. The other half from New Freedon to York, PA may have been cleared just as fast, but I cannot verify that. Electric power was out at the Sparks location and the Monkton location, however the Nature Center at Sparks was open and the Monkton park office and former train station were closed. The difference: Sparks is a volunteer operation and the Monkton location is park of the State Parks Service. They were closed under official orders. Love them volunteers.