Valley View Trail, Elkridge, MD

Location: Patapsco State Park, Avalon Area in Elkridge, MD

Date run:  many times

Distance:  I usually run a 4.0 mile looped route, but you can extend for many more miles, if desired.

Pros:  Even though you're practically in Baltimore City, the sounds and hustle of the city seem so far away.  Gorgeous, eastern deciduous forest with miles and miles of fun and technical trail options.  There is a bathroom, water fountain and covered picnic shelter adjacent to the parking area.  There is another bathroom and water fountain along the route, if you exit the Valley View trail and turn left (towards the swinging bridge), before turning back to go to the parking area (to the right, when you exit the trail).

Cons:  On the weekends, in particular, the trails can be quite crowded with mountain bikers.  Most are amazingly nice, but some of them aren't quite up on trail etiquette.  These few rude bikers can whiz right past you without warning ~ which makes the run not as quiet and serene as I generally like.

Patapsco State Park is just 3 miles from UMBC, where I spent 4.5 quasi-stressful years of my life.  I was a full time student, trying to find a place to fit in, while sometimes working 3 jobs (day, night and weekend) to try and make ends meet.  Or, I was selling my blood and/or plasma to the local blood bank.  Most people have great memories of their undergraduate years.  Frankly, mine were a blur of work, late night cram sessions, monumental relationship implosions and constant worry about if I would have enough money to cover rent ($276 per month), a car payment ($96) plus other basics.  I brought home $480 each month during these days, which left me $108 for gas, food and anything else I might need.  Running out of shampoo or toothpaste was cause for serious concern.  Adding these non-essentials (in that I didn't need to purchase them every month) to the shopping list could break me for the month.

But, my time at UMBC wasn't all bad.  Part time work with an ecology professor introduced me, for the very first time in my life, to the wonders of the natural world.  It was at UMBC that I realized I wanted to be an ecology professor.

And, UMBC is where I first fell in love with running.  Five nights a week, I would run the UMBC loop, a 2.1 mile jaunt around the campus.  Running was a salve to the stress of studying and scraping by.

Not having money for the movies or eating out meant that I had to find free ways to have fun. I would regularly ride my Dynacraft bike (which my friends with fancy bikes dubbed the 'Dyna-crap') to the Avalon Area of Patapsco State Park, where I would roller blade, mountain bike or run.  The bonsus of riding my bike into the park was FREE ENTRY, baby!  You only had to pay an entry fee if you drove a car into the park.

Twenty years later, I still love coming to this park.  I drive in (and gladly pay my entry fee) and park in the Avalon Area, which provides access to several miles of fairly technical trail.

I usually run the 4.0 mile, orange blaze 'Valley View' trail.  Sometimes, I'll add on the 1.5 mile purple blaze trail for fun.  It's fairly easy to get lost on these trails ~ especially if you don't know how to read trail blazes.  With few exceptions, trail blazes are the only markers on these trails.  Learning how to read trail blazes, a skill that you can acquire quickly and easily, is highly recommended before running these trails.


The trails wind through eastern deciduous forest.  I say that the trails are technical, because there has been a lot of trail erosion.  Exposed roots and rutted trails are the norm.  There is also a fairly steep (for me) ascent up to the ridge, once you hop onto the Valley View trail.  But, the first ascent is for less than a third of a mile.  Not too tortuous.  And, running over the roots, hopping on rocks to cross the streams, and barreling down hills during a descent are all so much fun!

I love this park!