State Parks in SoMd...

[Jason Kish]

GREENWELL! Come for the manor house, stay for the horse poop! J/K, 600 acres, 15 miles of trails, 2 miles water front, a fishing pier, two swimming beachs on the Patuxent, picnic tables and grills. Home of the Theraputic Horseback Riding Program and Summer Camp Programs for the kids. Its one of the best kept secrets in St. Mary's county, so stay away.
Ed

Greenwell is awesome. The house needs a paint job, though.

I enjoyed helping the college volunteers build the new fence by the ranger house so his daughter can be safe and not fall into the PAX

I have walked every acre with my friends and dog. I even ate some raw corn last summer and picked berries by the bluff. Yummy.

I like petting the horses, bull####ting with the maint manager, and birdwatching all the finches in the thickets.

The wooded sections on the outskirts are excellent for observing beaver dams.

The inlets are excellent for spotting those beautiful swans.

When it was all frozen over I walked the entire aquatic border with my dog.

I gave an impromptu tour of the old farm houses and explained the old agricultural implements to friends.

There are beaucoup ticks in the summer. Work on that.

Greenwell is nice. I shall continue its use and encourage its many functions.

Peace.

 

[Jason Kish]

Do you have a picture of your foxhound/ beagle hybrid??

When I bought my foxhound he was advertised as a large breed beagle.. well 70 pounds later, the vet told me he was an American Foxhound.. purebred. Smartest, friendliest, and most loyal dog I've ever owned.

I sure do.

Beeghi was awesome. Too bad my wife was allergic ( I found him in MO when hiking on the MO and MISS rivers)

I am now with my two hypo allergenic, non shedding wonderful Shih-Tzus (9 yo female butch ##### and a 3 yo fancy boy)

Send me an e-mail to jason.kish@hotmail.com and I'll return a snap shot.

At first I thought he was just a big ass Beagle, but the general consensus was that he had a snake in the woodpile and that snake was most likely a Fox hound.

His nose, ears, s pattern search pattern, and stare were definitely beagle, but regardless, he was all hound.

I gave him to a couple that live down by the bridge on the SM side. They had a female beagle and a Shih-Tzu so it was pretty much an even swap for Beeghi.

I have not seen his carcass yet on 235 or 4 so I assume he is still chillin. I promised myself I would not visit for a year to allow him to imprint on them

It sucks.

 

[Jason CCNPP YPs]

Another Park:

Maybe this is not Southern Maryland exactly, but those little islands between Solomons and the Eastern Shore are pretty and fun to navigate with a kayak, however it would behoove you to transport them with a power boat, anchor, and then explore, unless you are an expert kayaking navigator. I am not.

 

[RadioPatrol]

I have volunteered many hours at several state & MNCPAP sites and some federal parks.
It must be very discouraging for the benevolent groups and part time workers who plan & advertise and reach out to schools with programs and only get a trickle of visitors.
I have now taken a position in the DNR and have enjoyed several hours posted at a site with a few but very interested visitors.
The state has come up with more & more painful ways to slice their DNR budget:
a) Consolidating ranger positions
b) Removing all waste cans
c) Cutting back events
d) Closing non-supervised state lands
e) raising fees
f) reducing hours
h) hiring non-benefit part time workers
i) leaning on volunteers to do programs & maintenance.

While the pencil pushers in Annapolis have figured out how to squeeze the parks,...only a few people have raised a voice of protest:
Want the best way to let Annapolis know that we love our parks?

VISIT THEM!--we need folks just to stop in ...walk trails, fish, fly kites, run scout programs, off-road bike, and just let the workers know that you want the parks to stay open, available, and be well maintained.
MAKE SURE YOU SIGN IN EVERY TIME YOU VISIT!

I love where I work part time: more than the classroom, I just wish we could see more people take advantage of all the opportunities we offer.

The weather is great, the parks are open, see you Sunday!

I have been losing places to 4 wheel aka trail ride for years since Klintons Sec of Int mandated all roads are closed unless specifically labeled open.

they quote a lack of funds to to maintain the trails - but there always seems to be plenty O' Money for more city parks in San Francisco .............

Oh and it make the greenies in the Sierra Club happy as well

 

[Hessian]

You'd think...

So Md has probably 70+ miles of abandoned RR grades. If some senator were to take an interest: those would be ideal trails for horses, hikers, off-road bikers and ATVs.
They have done it up in NY-dozens of miles available.
They even have a train-to-Kayak point where kayakers can get their yaks hauled 20+ miles up into the Adirondack park by locomotive and then kayak out.

If the public officials can see some publicity & $$$ behind it: they could make it happen.

I'm a little surprised some tobacco farmer hasn't turned his farm into an off-road challenge: Charge a few bucks to maintain the trails: run at your own risk, take your trash with you...sounds like free enterprise to me.

 

[Elle]

Not a So.MD state park but ----

Patapsco Valley SP - Visited here this past weekend. Took about 2 hours to get there from SM. Only got to hike the trails at the Hollofield Area - where the main campground is located but hope to return within the year to visit the other areas. What a nice park.

 

[Hessian]

Elle!

What awesome pictures!
Thank you for posting them.

I would love to see a number of photographers post photos of our state & local parks.

We have a lot of bicylists visit Merkle on weekends.-Hope they take photos and leave comments in the visitor log.

Merkle is open on Weekends from 10-4 unless staff shortages pinch available workers.
Please call before visiting if you would like to ascertain whether the Visitor's center/discovery room is open.

See you this weekend!

 

[Dougstermd]

I have volunteered many hours at several state & MNCPAP sites and some federal parks.
It must be very discouraging for the benevolent groups and part time workers who plan & advertise and reach out to schools with programs and only get a trickle of visitors.
I have now taken a position in the DNR and have enjoyed several hours posted at a site with a few but very interested visitors.
The state has come up with more & more painful ways to slice their DNR budget:
a) Consolidating ranger positions
b) Removing all waste cans
c) Cutting back events
d) Closing non-supervised state lands
e) raising fees
f) reducing hours
h) hiring non-benefit part time workers
i) leaning on volunteers to do programs & maintenance.

While the pencil pushers in Annapolis have figured out how to squeeze the parks,...only a few people have raised a voice of protest:
Want the best way to let Annapolis know that we love our parks?

VISIT THEM!--we need folks just to stop in ...walk trails, fish, fly kites, run scout programs, off-road bike, and just let the workers know that you want the parks to stay open, available, and be well maintained.
MAKE SURE YOU SIGN IN EVERY TIME YOU VISIT!

I love where I work part time: more than the classroom, I just wish we could see more people take advantage of all the opportunities we offer.

The weather is great, the parks are open, see you Sunday!

I NEED A FRICKEN SECOND MORTGAGE TO GO TO A STATE PARK IN MARYLAND.

WTF $5 a person to get in and they do not even have trash cans in the picnic area. $55 to take my family when they came to visit.

If they think the no trash cans is gona work they are STUPID>

I put my trash in a trash bag and then "accidently" forgot for got to put it in the back of my truck before I left. So someone had to pick it up later.

Maryland state park system will be lucky if I ever visit one of their dump again.

WV and PA parks are just as close to me now so guess what SCREW MARYLAND

 

[Elle]

I NEED A FRICKEN SECOND MORTGAGE TO GO TO A STATE PARK IN MARYLAND.

I can't really comment on the general admission fee to the state parks because we have so far only visited to camp and to me you just can't beat their value ($25-30 a night for electric hook up and admission for up to 6 people into the park). I will admit that this weekend was our first time camping at a MD state park but this summer we've visited 3 in NY and 2 in VA. I love camping at the state parks -the trails we've walked (I won't call our pace hiking) are beautiful, and there's other activities besides hiking - crafts, animal shows, star gazing, and much more. The sites are soo spacious - I kid you not our site at four mile creek state park (NY) would have had 3 maybe even 4 trailers on it if we were at a private owned place.

 

[purplepassion]

I think ACLT is about 2,500 acres or about 3,000 acres of land including Parkers creek located between Prince Frederick and Scientists' Cliff in Calvert county. I 've hiked there several times. I 've paddled up the Parkers creek on seakayak.

American Chestnut Land Trust <- click
about ACLT <- click
Maps and Trails <- click


Yes I 've been to Merkle Wildlife once long time ago and heard things have changed over the years.
Magruder's landing.. yes I've launch my boat there before.

I don't find myself being interested in having anything to do with parks in PG county. Been there, doesn't strike my fancy to go back.

I love doing the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area tour down near Patuxent River Park. We've taken our son several times. It's great in the fall. We've climed the fire tower and looked out of the Patuxent River and looked into the water under the wooden bridge for any type of water creatures. My son wants to go again. I've seen people riding their horses there also.

Apparently you haven't been to too many parks in PG County. There are quite a few that are really nice and have lots of hiking trails. Such as Lake Artimedia, Watkins Park (They have a nice playground, an historic carosel and the Old Maryland Farm for kids) or Cosca Regional Park. I work for MNCPPC and am envious that Calvert County doesn't have the parks and the community centers that PG does.