We had no plans to hike yesterday… On Friday, we went to Annmarie Garden, and Saturday was going to be a slow day. The day dawned bright and sunny, though, and we decided to make the most of it. We haven’t done many trails in Howard County and the Middle Patuxent Environmental Area in Clarksville sounded perfect! The plan was to bring a picnic lunch and throw rocks in the river.
There are two locations at which one can access the trails. We chose to park in the lot off Trotter Road. There were plenty of parking spots, plus a bathroom that wasn’t locked. That was a delightful surprise, especially since it was the nicest trailhead bathroom I’ve ever seen!
We’d noticed that it wasn’t as sunny at this point, but we’d checked the weather report and nothing popped on the radar. We loaded up and set off.
I’m very glad I took a screenshot online of the trail map. We quickly discovered that, while marked, the trails were not marked well! Just past the trailhead, we came to an intersection. There were 2 trails leading off to the left, one to the right, and one straight ahead. We decided to play it safe and go straight. Stormy spotted a gorgeous butterfly flitting around the meadow next to the trail.
The trail was packed dirt, with the occasional tree root to trip you up. There were also some mud wallows. The woods were beautiful and peaceful. The girls had fun running ahead and exploring. Stormy startled a frog which hopped off the trail. Pebble found a giant leaf to carry for a bit.
The trail sloped downhill toward the river. We came to several more junctions with other trails, and decided to just keep making lefts as these junctures remained unmarked. It was around this time that we started to hear some rumbling. We checked the radar again, but it only showed a few storms moving south and east of us. We continued on…
We crossed a boardwalk over a swamp, then crossed a bridge over a small stream that led to the river. That would end up being our only glimpse of the river.
Further along the trail we stopped on another bridge for a snack and water. Stormy and Rainbow were both excited when they realized the muddy pool of water below the bridge contained tadpoles! They tried counting them to see how many there were.
The trail narrowed a bit after the bridge and began turning to the left away from the river. The rumbling we heard was also getting louder and closer. We picked up our pace, hoping to reach the car before the rain, but no such luck! Falling rain swept over our area of trail sounding like a train as it came toward us. Within moments we were soaked and the trail got slippery! We saw another pair of stranded hikers on the trail who’d taken refuge under a picnic table. That was not an option with kids in tow. By the time we got to the car, everyone was wet with streaks of mud running down our legs. The rain stopped briefly, too, giving us a chance to load everyone in the van and pass out lunches.
It was an adventure to remember! Our hike was cut short, but we will definitely return to explore the other trails. It is a nice easy hike for beginners, too. There were no steep climbs or descents. Pebble walked almost the entire 2 mile loop that we did. Definitely, check this place out! Happy trails!
Middle Patuxent Environmental Area
