On Black Friday our community joined us virtually across the region to hike off those Thanksgiving dinner calories and to follow REI‘s movement to #OptOutside to show that on a day where so many are crowding into stores to shop, we can safely enjoy and share the tranquility of nature together! Due to the ongoing pandemic and rising numbers of COVID cases we sadly could not have our annual in-person hike but periodically throughout the day we checked in with Facebook live stream videos and photos from nine different spots around Harford County to share the beauty of the public lands here in this wonderful place we get to call home. Below there is also a map with some local day trip ideas that we encourage everyone to get out on one of our excellent local trails. Please gather responsibility in our parks and across the holiday season and use precautions to keep yourself and those around you safe!
Our first #OptOutside stop of the day was at the beautiful Anita C. Leight Estuary Center! This is a true gem of the Harford County Parks with some fun forested trails, a nature themed play area for kids, a nature center (when able to be open), and most importantly, access to a tidal freshwater system that includes habitat for a wide variety of plant and wildlife species. Portions of this park were expanded through protection efforts by our friends at Harford Land Trust and across the river is a expansive marsh protected and maintained by the Izaak Walton League of America – Harford County known as the Bosley Conservancy, a great place to kayak!
For our 2nd #OptOutside spot we visited the wonderful Forest Greens Lake Preserve that was preserved forever by our friends at the Harford Land Trust and is managed by Harford County Department of Parks and Recreation. This coastal plains flatwoods has an important spring-fed lake that flows into the Bush River with lots of great wildlife habitat including waterfowl. Learn more here-https://www.harfordlandtrust.org/…/22-the-forest-greens…
For our 3rd #OptOutside feature we visited Swan Harbor Farm, one of great multi use parks managed by Harford County Department of Parks and Recreation. With many acres of restored wetlands, farm fields, forest, stream and frontage on the Susquehanna River as it becomes the Chesapeake Bay, this is one of the premiere birding locations in the region, with many migratory species making an appearance, some incredibly rare to the region such as the recently seen mountain bluebird! This park will soon be expanded with the recent protection of neighboring Belle Vue Farm, that was preserved forever and will eventually be opened to the public thanks to our partners at Harford Land Trust , Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Harford County Government!
http://www.swanharborfarm.org/
https://www.harfordlandtrust.org/…/180-347-acre-belle…
Our 4th #OptOutside featured place was Susquehanna State Park! This impressive stretch of protected forest provides a wide range of recreational opportunities! From birdwatching (including its famous bald eagle viewing near the Conowingo Dam), to a large network of hiking trails, to boating and camping, it really has it all. We love looking out across the Susquehanna River towards Port Deposit and looking for the endangered Northern Map Turtle basking on rocks near the islands during the warm season. Please use extra caution and hike safely as this park is still particularly crowded right now. Trail maps and more info can be found here –https://dnr.maryland.gov/…/Pages/central/susquehanna.aspx. While in the area please check out Steppingstone Farm Museum as well!
We had to quickly #OptOutside at one of our favorite places (of course), the Susquehannock Wildlife Center! We will be sharing some exciting updates on our progress with the Wildlife Center construction in the coming weeks but we wanted to take a moment to enjoy our native wildflower meadow and a view across the Deer Creek valley from our stargazing platform!
For our 6th #OptOutside hike of the day we wanted to quickly highlight Palmer State Park! With some newly added trails it really offers some great opportunities to get outside and enjoy the Deer Creek valley and a nice mix of habitats. https://dnr.maryland.gov/public…/Pages/central/palmer.aspx
For our 7th #OptOutside featured park of the day we hiked along the beautiful Deer Creek at Eden Mill which is owned by Harford County Department of Parks and Recreation and expanded by our friends at Harford Land Trust! This wonderful and historic place offers a wide variety of programs, a nature center & museum (when able to be safely open), trails that wind along the creek, forests, and meadows. http://www.edenmill.org/
We then visited Jerusalem Mill, part of Gunpowder State Park for our 8th #OptOutside feature! At this beautiful park on the border of Harford and Baltimore County you can enjoy great trails with wildlife viewing opportunities along the Little Gunpowder Falls, a historic mill and village (when able to be open), and even a covered bridge!https://dnr.maryland.gov/…/Jerusalem-Mill-Village.aspx
For our 9th and final spot to #OptOutside we looped back to the coastal plain at Mariner Point Park in Joppa, managed by Harford County Parks & Rec! This is a great community park with paved trails, a boat ramp into the Gunpowder River, and nice areas to picnic and playgrounds for kids. While we ran out of daylight trying to highlight just a fraction of our local parks, this is a great spot to enjoy a sunset. With a combination of marsh and forest there is some decent wildlife viewing opportunities including the popular melanistic gray squirrels! https://www.visitharford.com/listing/mariner-point-park/225/
Here are a few other local gems of Harford County we were not able to feature along with our nine live stream stops celebrating the #OptOutside movement Friday. There are so many places to explore and see wildlife!
Rocks, Kilgore Falls & Hidden Valley Maryland State Parks
https://dnr.maryland.gov/publicl…/Pages/central/rocks.aspx
Ma and Pa Heritage Trail
Mason-Dixon Trail System
http://susquehannariverlands.com/…/mason-dixon-trail/
Harford Glen (Not open to he public again until April)https://www.hcps.org/har…/Home%20Page/AboutUsMainPage.html
With this link by our friends at Harford Land Trust you can view a map that features places to hike, paddle and enjoy nature.
Here is a selection of wildlife we were able to enjoy while moving through our nine sites, we were especially excited to see a Northern harrier hawk, Pickerel frog and some basking Eastern painted turtles!
