Day 4 of biking from Philadelphia to DC: A 14-mile finale on stunning trails

It’s the last day of our bike adventure from Philadelphia to Washington D.C.

We had considered going via Annapolis; yes, out of the way, but there’s that glorious B&A Trail. Plus it’s the East Coast Greenway route. And a friend lives there.

Then we thought about an easy day, getting close to but not into DC.

In the end, we decided to push through. Another 60ish-mile day, but we’d pretty much be chilling on a string of trails from Greenbelt south. Someone gave us a Monuments to Monument route that we did in reverse, with some modifications.

First up, leaving Baltimore. This turned out to be much, much easier than our journey through the northern suburbs. After a quick bike-by of Edgar Allan Poe’s gravesite, Babe Ruth’s birthplace and the Brooks Robinson statue outside Camden Yards, we were soon on the Middle Branch Trail (a bit bumpy because of tree roots) and eventually the BWI Trail, which loops around the airport. If you wanted to skip downtown Baltimore, take the light rail to Linthicum, right on the BWI Trail.

At one point on the trail, the East Coast Greenway turns east toward Annapolis. We went the other way, with planes taking off above our heads, then past the light rail station, eventually passing within sight of the Amtrak station. Impressive!

Just before we turned right off the trail, I saw a sign on the road below: Odenton 6 miles. No idea what the route would be like, but there’s a bridge under construction over the Patuxent River there that should connect two parts of the WB&A Trail and make it much easier to get to Washington, D.C. Oh well. A reason to come back.

Instead we took roads, many pretty good, past some warehouses, through new neighborhoods, some brief stretches on busy roads til the traffic lights so we could get back to quieter options, even if some of those quieter roads had no shoulders and a few garbage trucks, so not great.

Then one road behind a church that showed up on the map didn’t actually exist. Phones out, spot a path at the back of the cemetery next door, will it work? Down it takes us to the back of a warehouse.

We finally reconnect with the East Coast Greenway in Greenbelt and the Indian Creek Trail, across from the back of the Beltway Plaza Mall. Tip: If you need lunch, grab it from a restaurant or the supermarket there, because you won’t pass a food option for a long time. Yes, even though you’re now deep in the D.C. inner suburbs.

That’s because you’ll be on one trail after another for 14 miles: Indian Creek, Northeast Branch Trail and finally the five-star Anacostia Riverwalk Trail all the way to the wide bike path on Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge leading to Nationals Park. Not that you can’t leave the trail to find food, of course, but why? This is the true greenbelt.

We stopped at the Jefferson Memorial, then took yet more trails practically to our stop for the night. D.C., I’m impressed! And there were more trails we wanted to ride before catching a regional Amtrak train back to Philly (a two-hour trip vs. our four days on the bike), but just not enough time…

Kudos to the Amtrak conductor who politely got passengers to remove their bags from the luggage rack/bike rack so I could claim my spot, reserved for $20. Front wheel off, use the hook at the top of the rack for the rear wheel, and let the bike dangle.

Missed part of the journey? Here’s day 1 from Philadelphia to Gap, PA., day 2 from Gap, PA to York and day 3 from York to Baltimore.