10/30/2004 rev

XC Ski Links, Snow/weather links

Notes on off-road roller skis

This informal group of die-hard cross-country skiers in the metropolitan Washington DC area was organized in 1996 by Peter Kristensen. It is named for the 2 primary pathways suitable for rollerskiing: Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park and the Capital Crescent Trail. The group is not active during the summer from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Beach Dr can be crowded with in-line skaters, bikers, and joggers on nice days during the spring and fall so we usually start early. Peter may be contacted at cartouche@igc.org.

Beach Drive (not to be confused with Beech Ave.) is a discontinuous road running through Rock Creek Park from Montgomery county, MD to the Potomac River. The National Park service closes sections of the drive to through car traffic from Saturday morning to Sunday evening and on federal holidays. The portion of Beach Dr from Wise road to Blagden road is suitable for rollerskiing both traditional and skate style. Blagden road to Military road is a very gentle uphill run with no motor vehicles other than park police. Cars are allowed to access the picnic areas from Military road north but there is no through route and the road is blocked to cars at Sherrill Dr. It is a stiffer uphill from Sherrill Dr to Wise Rd but can easily be descended. Wise Rd is a 100 yd section open to east-west traffic and steeply downhill. Best to walk or have speed reduces for this one since the traffic can be very heavy and the road turns left at the bottom with straight ahead blocked by a gate. I've seen in-line skaters hit the gate pretty hard after coming down the hill. Beach Dr from Wise road to the MD line is short but flat and much less used so it's good for sprints.

Parking lots are available at Military Road, the MD line, and Blagden Road. The Blagden Road lot is small and fills very early on weekends. There is ample parking at the MD line but this means crossing the open Wise Road section to get to the main rollerskiing area.

The paved section of Capital Crescent trail runs 7 miles from downtown Bethesda to Georgetown along an abandoned railroad bed. Access in Bethesda is from the public parking lot on Bethesda Ave. one block west of Wisconsin Ave. (MD 355). The path is not wide enough for skating without risk of hitting other users. The trail gets heavy pedestrian use from Bethesda to the Dalecarlia Reservoir. From the Dalecarlia Reservoir to Georgetown traffic tends to be light with an exception in the area of Fletcher's boat house.

There are 3 bridges and 2 at grade crossings. The grade crossings are north of River Road and fairly safe since both cross split roads with a safety island in the middle: one is in a residential neighborhood with car speed bumps just before the crossing, the other is across a major road but there are traffic lights close to the crossing so traffic is forced to stop periodically. The bridges are at River Road, the Dalecarlia Reservoir, and Canal Road at Arizona Ave. The River Road bridge can be daunting since it is about 20 ft above the road and has a long run out with additional grade drop to the south. The Dalecarlia Reservoir bridge is wood planking recently repaired and has only a moderate drop and pitch. The Canal Road bridge is the old RR bridge with a poured concrete slab. This one is interesting because the concrete is scored for ice and snow traction. This results in a vibrating foot massage when crossing on rollerskis.

I (Jerry) have done 110 miles of the C+O canal towpath on the Elpex off-road roller skis and have hiked almost all of the rest of it. Unfortunately, the roller skiing was done before the massive floods damaged much of the canal surface near DC. Much of it has been repaired up to Great Falls and looks even better for rollerskiing than before the flood. However, some sections near the Legion Bridge had (and may still have) a loose surface of sandy river gravel which is difficult to navigate on rollerskis. The section from Cumberland to the Paw Paw tunnel is the longest stretch with consistently good surface. The section near the Seneca Creek aqueduct is in very poor condition with exposed fill and rubble.

Rollerskiing heaven.  Approximately 20 miles total length with 10 miles from the Annapolis end to MD 100 overpass being the prime section.  Parking with water and toilets at Earleigh Road ranger station at the 7 mile post.  Only one major road crossing in this section and it's lightly travelled on weekend mornings.  From RT 100 to Glen Burnie it has some sections suitable for short workouts.  Plenty of unmarked access points at strip malls along the route.

One access point for the W&OD is at the commuter park and ride lot at Isaac Newton and Sunset Hills road near Reston.  I did not use the trail but what I could see is in excellent conditon for rollerskiing.
 

From: Bob Dodds   recbo@erols.com

The W&OD Railroad park trail is smooth asphalt. I am familiar with the part from Vienna to Herndon and beyond, and Leesburg west to the end. It's very scenic on the western half.

Bull Run Regional Park is smooth asphalt roads. Most of the time cars are scarce

I made it to the Valley Forge rail-trail and it appears to be a fairly good location.  The Valley Forge NP prohibits roller devices of any kind on the trails within the park.  The paved rail-trail extends downstream from Valley Forge NP with access at most of the SEPTA rail stations along the route to downtown.  I only traveled the section to just below Norristown and it's excellent except at the commuter station where it runs along the platforms.

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Other sites of personal interest
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