Baltimore Skating

The skate club in Baltimore is Rollerquest. They encourage a friendly, social atmosphere, and provide a competitive training atmosphere for those whose goals are to improve technique, endurance and skill. Skaters of all skill levels are welcome. Rollerquest promotes camaraderie by designing group events to meet everyone's needs.

Following are several Baltimore skating venues. For the best detail routes and maps available, check out the rail-trail link at the bottom of this page.

Downtown Skating
Meet at the corner of Pratt and Gay streets in the Inner Harbor area across the street from the Pratt St. entrance to the National Aquarium. There are several pay parking lots and garages in the area. Saturday discount rates in effect in most cases. Street parking is limited (short term meters). Cheapest parking is in an indoor garage on Gay St., a block and a half up from Pratt St. on the left.

The Baltimore - Annapolis Trail Park
The Baltimore & Annapolis Trail is an established recreational greenways following the route of the old Baltimore & Annapolis Railroad from Glen Burnie to Annapolis. This linear park is 13.3 miles long and encompasses 112 acres. The trail has a 10-foot wide, paved surface within a 66-foot wide, landscaped corridor. There is also an 11 mile loop trail at the terminus around BWI airport that is mostly flat and peaceful. You can get to the trail by train, plane, bus, car, bike, light rail (from Baltimore), or skate.

Lock Raven Reservoir
A 1.5 mile or so stretch of smooth pavement on the east side is closed to traffic weekends from 10AM to 5PM. Go up Dulaney Valley Rd. along west and north sides of reservoir. Stay along the reservoir (ie bear right) when the main road bears left at the restaurant. The next road is where skating starts. Moderately crowded with walkers, skaters, and bicyclers on nice days, esp after lunch. But shaded and cool.

Patapsco State Park
Just S of I195 off of Rt 1, near the UMBC campus. There is an admission charge, but skaters can park in the residential area outside the park (go past the entrance up the hill), and skate in for free. It is about 1 mile into the main park, then there is a 2 mile stretch of river to skate along, ending in a hanging bridge over the river. One side of the river is a road (no cars allowed most of the way), the other is a bike path.

Camden Yards Stadium
There are parking lots and smooth sidewalks south of stadium and around it. Obviously avoid game days. Guards will not let you skate between the warehouses (inside the large gates) but will let you skate elsewhere. On a weekday or early AM weekend, you can also skate over to the Inner Harbor for a nice cruise.

Contact the WAR Webmaster

Last Updated 6/15/2006