On Friday, we knew it was going to be hot, but we decided a short hike was worth it. We wanted to stay close to home, and decided to give Patapsco another try. This time we headed for the Hilton Area in Catonsville. We had been here several times before to play on their awesome tire playground, but never hiked. It was a weekday, so we only needed to pay $2 to enter and the ranger kindly gave us a map. In addition to the playground, there are plenty of spots to picnic, restrooms, and a tiny nature center. There was plenty of parking available on this sunny morning, too. We lathered ourselves in sunscreen and bug spray, hefted our packs and set off!
Our short hike looked simple enough, Forest Glen Trail to Grist Mill Trail to Buzzards Rock Trail to Saw Mill Trail and back to Forest Glen. My estimate was between 2-3 miles… We quickly discovered there was nothing simple about this excursion!
Shortly after we started the trail, Stormy took a bad tumble. She scratched up her leg, arm, and stomach. We patched her up with bandaids and carried on. The trail was downhill and rocky. Like the McKeldin Area, we quickly realized the trails were not well marked. We came to an intersection, and there were no markings. We turned left as that made the most sense. After we had gone downhill a bit we found a sign that told us we were on the right trail! Why this sign wasn’t at the juncture…
The trail continued downhill and got rockier. We picked our way carefully. There were other hikers, but it was easy enough to social distance. The best part of this trail was shortly before it met the Grist Mill Trail. The girls were beyond thrilled to discover we got to walk through a tunnel!
Once we reached the other end of the tunnel, we discovered that a section of the Grist Mill Trail had washed out.
We crossed the stream just outside the tunnel, and made a right on the Grist Mill Trail. The Grist Mill Trail is paved, and it was easy walking.
We followed the trail as far as the location of the old Bloede Dam. The views of the river were beautiful!
At the location of the old dam, we made a right onto the Buzzard Rock Trail.
The trail went steadily up, switching back and forth. It wasn’t hard terrain to cross, mainly packed dirt. There were several sections we had to watch Pebble as the trail narrowed with a drop to one side.
We found Buzzard Rock and were not impressed. The rock is huge, but the views are ehhh. There was also a steep drop off, and we were worried about the kiddos on it. We continued on and spotted a doe with her fawn. It was also at this point in the hike that we started finding trails that weren’t on the map. Rainbow and Stormy love looking for blazes, but they were few and far between! Junctions were still not well marked either. We took a turn and somehow ended up circling back to a section of trail we’d already traversed. Fortunately, a mountain biker stopped to give us directions and sent us in the right direction!
In order to reach the Saw Mill trail we had to retrace our steps past the juncture where we made the wrong turn. Then we had to hike past a parking lot, which wasn’t on the map. We got some extra mileage out of this oops moment. Be forewarned if you hike this trail, there are a lot of confusing offshoots that are not marked! Rainbow kept asking if we were almost back to the car, and we had no idea!
The Sawmill Trail went downhill, and was a much nicer hike! The views of the stream were beautiful! We stopped to let the kids play at one spot where the Sawmill and Santee trails meet up. They loved the chance to rock hop, throw stones and relax.
We continued to follow the trail. Unsurprisingly, the red blazes seemed to disappear. I knew if we followed the stream, it would take us where we needed to go. We followed a narrow, winding path and rock hopped across several small feeder streams.
We came to a section of the stream with a deep pool. All 3 kids begged to stop and throw rocks in! Pebble ended up a wet, sandy mess, but the stop was worth it! Plus, two kiddos needed a pit stop. I’m so glad we have a portable potty!
After our break, we followed the trail a bit further until it seemed to peter out. Fortunately, I could see the Forest Glen Trail across the stream. We rock hopped across, clambered up the bank, and started the climb back up to the car. It was a hot, tough slog. Rainbow was exhausted and climbed slowly. Pebble got back in the carrier and let me do the hard work. Our short hike was much longer than we expected, and we did closer to 5 miles. We all rejoiced when we reached the car!
We learned a good lesson here… Always pack more water than you think, especially on hot days! I liked the Grist Mill Trail and the Saw Mill Trail was cool. Buzzards Rock was just a confusing mess! Would we hike here again? This was the second hike we’ve done at Patapsco, and the second time we’ve gotten off track due to poor trail markings. I don’t think we will hike here again anytime soon. Visit the tire playground, yes, but hike… We will look for other parks with better trail systems. If you go, bring a map, extra water, and plenty of patience! Happy trails!
