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The Beautiful Culvert LbNA #29516

Owner:wood thrush
Plant date:Mar 25, 2007
Location:
City:Ellicott City
County:Howard
State:Maryland
Boxes:1
Found by: Chili Pepper
Last found:Dec 27, 2018
Status:FFFFFFFFFFF
Last edited:Mar 25, 2007
Read this important note before you attempt this letterbox. This letterbox should NOT be attempted by boxers with young children or those with children of any age who like to explore far ahead on their own or have difficulty obeying you on the trail. The hike involves two short stretches of walking close to a lightly-used but active railroad, plus two at-grade crossings of the tracks. In addition, the two-mile hike begins and ends with a very long and somewhat steep hill. The climb back up the hill comes at the end of the hike.

Driving directions. Begin at the northern terminus of U.S. Rt. 29 just above Ellicott City. Make a left at the light onto Rt. 99 west. Drive several miles to a right turn on Green Clover Drive. Begin looking for this street after you pass Waverly Elementary School on the left. A stone sign reads “Wenford.” You will be in a development of 1960s-era ranch homes.

Follow Green Clover 0.7 miles to a brown street sign on the left that reads “Treys Lane.” DO NOT park along Treys Lane; no parking is allowed. Instead, park on Green Clover Drive near the Treys Lane sign.

To the letterbox. Walk down Treys Lane to the place where it curves to the right. Stop here and notice that among the “Private Property” and “No Hunting” signs is the gated entrance to the park. A small sign on the post lets you know you are entering public land.

Pass through the gate and walk down the long hill on the remnant of a road. When you reach the bottom of the hill you will be at the Old Main Line (OML) of the former B&O Railroad. This one-track line is still in light use by CSX today. Trainweb.org notes, “The OML is the route of the first commercial railroad in the United States as it pushed west from Baltimore, Md., to the Ohio River. It was constructed largely by hand between 1828 and 1835, and amazingly, continues in active railroading use even now.” If you like railroad history, you can see a host of mile-by-mile photos and learn some fascinating facts at Trainweb.org’s B&O Old Main Line Tour site.

Do not cross the tracks at this point. Instead, turn to your right and walk along the path that parallels the railroad grade. At first you will be pretty close to the tracks, but soon you’ll find yourself a little further away and lower than the tracks on a wide path. This short stretch is actually part of the old 1830s trackbed. You will come to a railroad switch box painted with a surprisingly nice bit of extraterrestrial jellyfish graffiti. A bit beyond it is the Davis Tunnel, constructed in 1906. Between these two is the place to carefully cross the tracks. The usual safety disclaimers about railroads apply. STOP. LOOK. LISTEN.

Once safely across the tracks, notice that you can look all the way through the curving Davis Tunnel. Cool! Pick up the path again, which now follows the banks of the Patapsco River. You are on the original track bed from the 1830s. It is so old that it was used by Peter Cooper’s famous “Tom Thumb” engine (the same one that raced the horse not far from here). Notice that this track went around the hill that the Davis Tunnel now cuts through. The Davis Tunnel was cut to straighten out the route.

Follow the path around the hill and enjoy the scenery—maybe imagine you’re living back in those olden days. When you’re on the other side of the hill, look to your left for an obvious old ramp cut into the hill from the elevated trackbed down to the natural lower level of ground that runs along the Patapsco River. You will see on your right an old shin-high, beaver-gnawed stump, about the thickness of a fence post. Walk down the ramp, then walk towards Line Run, a small stream that empties into the Patapsco. Follow the sound of the water. Soon you’ll see the beautiful culvert, a bridge that used to carry the train over this small stream. It was probably built around 1838. Take some time to admire it in this peaceful setting. If you come in the early spring you’ll enjoy the added treat of colonies of naturalized daffodils, left over from when people lived around here.

Now return the way you came, back up to the trackbed, and we’ll look at the culvert from the other side and get the letterbox. Continue on the trackbed across the culvert. You’ll see the top stones of the culvert on either side of you when you are on top of it. Just beyond the culvert, scramble down the hill on the right. After you admire the culvert from this angle, stand at the foot of the moss-covered railroad tie.

Take a bearing of due south and notice an intersection of three downed trees. Two are parallel to each other across a hill, while the third falls from the same general stump area towards the trackbed. Walk 40 steps to the intersection of these trees at their stumps. Your prize rests snug within a rock cave whose entrance is hidden by a pile of smaller rocks.

Important! Please note that if you cannot find the landmarks in the previous two paragraphs that take you to the beautiful culvert, and you find you have walked on the path all the way up to the active rail line on the other side of the Davis Tunnel, you have gone too far! Turn around and walk back on the path, looking for the tell-tale stonework on either side of the path that marks the top of the culvert, as well as the small stream that will be immediately below you on its way to the Patapsco.

Now retrace your steps to return to your car. Go back up to the trackbed, walk back around the hill, carefully cross the tracks, walk along the tracks, and turn left at the road to go back up the long hill. The uphill climb isn’t too bad until you get near the end, where it is very steep. We hope you’ve enjoyed the beautiful culvert.