Little Patuxent River

Dorsey Hall Open Space

interactive map link

It was declared that I should "meet the nibbling" with the suggestion that "at 1 year old doesn't count" (which I must admit is true, but there were claims otherwise at the time) and that perhaps during the fall when the leaves were turning (probably late October) and when the temperatures were attractive to hiking. It was admitted that the area is not really known for its leaf peeping opportunities. Most of my leaf peeping aspirations revolve around larches at the moment, but that opportunity had already passed again, so I might try some eastern trees. All this is how I came to be on a plane for the second time since 2012 in the middle of a government shutdown when many in the control towers were rightfully calling in sick instead of working without pay. Somehow my flights weren't even delayed as I traveled, never in anything bigger than a 737. Do you know there is now a thing called "Basic Economy" where you don't even get a carry on? You do get a "personal item" that fits under the seat.

A wooden boardwalk section of the multi-use trail in a random piece of Howard County green space.

Since I consider the eastern seaboard to be a crowded place (some 75% of the county's population is somewhere around there!) and dreaded the idea of driving those roads, I decided to go out on a nice little evening stroll in a postage stamp of green near where my mother has taken up residence to prove to myself that it's not so bad. I also tried letting the phone show me where to go for the first time. Not all freeway exchanges were executed in a manner I liked. It was a little longer a drive than it should have been. Eventually I did find myself along a wide road with street parking down both sides and an entrance to the target trail.

There's a little color on these leaves that are actually from the vine that certainly doesn't raise any warning flags for me. Leaves of three on the eastern poison ivy.

The first thing that greeted me was a "PARK CLOSED" sign. This conflicted greatly with the number of people out walking the paved trail that runs through it. Closer inspection showed that this was only on 4 days over 3 months and that only before noon when the deer would be dying. Er, "deer management - hunting" would happen. Without this sign, I never would have known I was in the Dorsey Hall Open Space, a Howard County Park.

This red faced critter is an eastern gray squirrel with the Little Patuxent River.

Once at the park, my goal was to observe some rather common animals that I had, as yet, none of on iNaturalist. Top of my list was white tailed deer. They're just as common as the black tailed deer that are my most observed thing and I've even been in places where they live, but I had none. Following on, there's a couple of birds that are the state bird in multiple states: cardinals and blue jays.

Multi-use trail along the Little Patuxent River in the evening light.

I got my deer! Actually, I got my deer a few times. The first was a male with a small pair of antlers.

What a long nose and tail you have, white tailed deer.

He wasn't comfortable with my attention. Would he put up his flag?

There it is! The flag is up!

The trail climbed a hill and dumped out at the end of a cul-de-sac. I turned around. Now I was out to find my first Maryland geocache. There were two that I might find. The first was easy enough in a people free moment. I handled the log, but didn't sign because I had neglected to bring a pen. Apparently I didn't know what I was doing.

I found Woody Woodpecker, but this is not my first pileated woodpecker. I think these were a lot bigger than the western ones.

Not just bright leaves, but bright berries on this winged Euonymus. Which is introduced.

The second geocache was off trail at a section of boardwalk/bridge. OpenStreetMap shows what someone has labeled "Old Columbia Bike Trail" which turns out to be a dirt track, somewhat overgrown and with logs laying across it. It does not rise to the exalted state of "cycleway" that they have claimed. Some of it may be missing under river flooding. I looked where the coordinates said, then read the logs and the clue and looked where those seemed to point a little way away from the coordinates. Like the last looker, I had no luck.

Little Patuxent River.

One impressively large tree among a forest that is just growing to medium.

A small family of white tailed deer.

I arrived back at the road. The trail continues on the far side, but I did not. It was getting a little dark. I did not manage to capture any of the eastern flickers who were also up in the trees, and that was disappointing. They flick yellow instead of orange like ours. Still, got a few common animals for my iNaturalist collection, a geocache, and faced those roads. My navigation back worked a little better.

*photo album*




©2026 Valerie Norton
Written 19 Jan 2026