Railbike Rides in Maryland

Woodcock Hollow Express — 1.5 hours, 7 miles along the ridge line. The quick, scenic introduction to pedaling the rails: $89 per tandem railbike, $139 per quad. If it's your first time on a railbike, start here.

Helmstetter Hotshot — 2 hours out to Helmstetter's Curve, the iconic horseshoe bend that draws railfans with cameras from all over. $99 per tandem, $169 per quad.

Mountain Ridge Rider — 3 hours and 15 miles, the deepest ride into the mountains on the menu, threading the Brush Tunnel and the Narrows. $119 per tandem, $199 per quad.

Railbike pricing is per bike, not per person. A tandem seats up to two riders; a quad seats up to four. Mix and match freely — a family of six takes a quad and a tandem, and a club ride fills as many bikes as it needs.

That math matters when you compare options: $89 for a tandem on the Woodcock Hollow Express is $44.50 a head with two aboard, and a $139 quad splits four ways to under $35 each. Every ride departs from 19 Depot St in Frostburg unless noted; questions go to Tracks & Yaks at 301-349-3699.

The Queen City Combo — AM runs four hours from Frostburg: railbike down the mountain in the morning, then ride the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad's Frostburg Flyer back up. Rails both ways, $169 per tandem railbike. The PM version flips it — board at 13 Canal St in downtown Cumberland, take the train up the mountain, then railbike back down in the afternoon light over 5.5 hours, also $169.

The Track and Yak is the signature five-hour combo: a guided railbike run plus a kayak paddle, with the kayak (single or double) included, at $169 per tandem. One afternoon, two very different ways to move through the mountains.

The Tunnel Hotel has stood beside these rails since 1888. Queen rooms — the Little Savage Sleeper and Queen City Sleeper — start at $79.79 a night, the Tunnel Deluxe sleeps four from $91.19, and the Big Savage Bunk Room takes a crew of six at $169.86. The Trail Inn Cafe downstairs covers coffee, hot breakfast, trail sandwiches, and local beer, all chargeable to your room.

Check-in is contactless around the clock — your door code arrives by SMS — and checkout at 11:00 AM leaves time for breakfast before a morning departure. Book direct at /book with no online booking fees, Stripe-secured. Cancellations 72-plus hours out get a full refund, 48-plus hours can reschedule, and if the operator cancels a ride for weather you receive a full refund or credit.

The depot district fills the hours between rides on its own. The Frostburg Flyer steams into the depot at 12:45 PM and departs at 2:15 PM on days it runs, the turntable and the Thrasher Carriage Museum sit next door, and downtown Frostburg's shops, restaurants, and breweries are a walk up the hill.

The Great Allegheny Passage rail-trail passes 300 yards from the hotel if you want conventional pedaling too — geared bicycle rentals run $25 for two hours or $40 for a full day.