Capital Crescent Trail
| Capital Crescent Trail | |
|---|---|
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| Established | December 1996 |
| Length | 11 miles (18 km) |
| Location | Washington metropolitan area |
| Trailheads | South: Georgetown, North: Silver Spring |
| Use | Hiking, Biking |
| Hiking details | |
| Website | www |
The Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) is an 11-mile (18 km) long, shared-use rail trail that runs from Georgetown in Washington, D.C., to Silver Spring, Maryland. The portion from Bethesda to Silver Spring is also called the Georgetown Branch Trail but is recognized as the Future Capital Crescent Trail.
The Capital Crescent Trail is the most heavily used rail trail in the United States and is used by more than 1 million walkers, joggers, bikers, skateboarders and rollerbladers each year. In 2005, it was named one of the "21 great places that show how transportation can enliven a community" by The Project for Public Spaces.
The trail runs on the abandoned right-of-way of the Georgetown Branch rail line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The rail line was partially built in 1892 and completed in 1910. It served Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO), the Washington Mill and Federal government buildings; but with the changing use of Georgetown's waterfront, became obsolete. Trains stopped running on the line in 1985 and it was formally abandoned in 1988.
Advocates for turning the railroad into a trail began to lobby local and federal officials and, despite opposition from neighbors including former Secretary of State Edmund Muskie and those who wanted the right-of-way for mass transit or other development, they were able to convince the Montgomery County Government, along with a coalition of developers and government agencies, to purchase the right-of-way from the D.C. line to Silver Spring under the National Trails System Act of 1968 in 1988. CSX sold the line for $22 million. The following year, the County voted to build a trolley and bike trail along the Bethesda-Silver Spring section of the right-of-way.
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