The day after our adventure to Matapeake Clubhouse and Beach, the girls asked if we had another adventure planned. It was Sunday, and I’d planned for a lazy day. That changed as Stormy and Rainbow started chanting, “Adventure! Adventure!” I took a look at the AllTrails app for an idea. Then I realized Jug Bay was close and we had only hiked at the main sanctuary. So we set out for the Glendening Nature Preserve.
We parked at the Wrighton Entrance on Wrighton Road. The small lot is located on the right side of the road just before you reach the left turn to the main sanctuary. It was a busy morning here, and there wasn’t much space for parking. We applied a generous amount of bug spray before heading into the woods.
We took the orange blazed trail, called the Red Oak Trail. It was fairly flat and wide, and easy hiking. The best part, according to the girls, was that the trail was sandy. They kept stopping to play with the sand! Pebble grabbed handfuls and would walk along letting sand fall from her hands like sand in an hourglass.
Eventually, we passed the Holly Trail and took a connector trail that led to the Cliff Trail. Here we met up with an old friend and her trusty four legged sidekick. We continued on a bit further and did a loop on the green blazed trail, Cedar Trail to Beaver Rock before returning to the Red Oak Trail. The neatest part of the green loop was the area around the Sand Barrens. There was an entire field of Prickly Pear Cactus! Pebble kept touching the cacti and saying “Ouch!”
We took the blue blazed Cliff Trail on our way back to the car. Along the way, we took a small side trail down to the Chris Swarth Boardwalk which led us to a dock on the south fork of Old Galloway Creek. The views were stunning!
Be forewarned! The climb back up to the Cliff Trail is steep!
All in all, it was a fun hike! Stormy found a great tree to climb on on our way back to the car, and I found a small frog to show the girls. Jug Bay Glendening Preserve is a great place to hike with littles or if you are new to hiking. The trails are well marked and easy to follow. Happy trails!
