Trample Your Winter Blues

Sometimes, you just feel like running. With warmer weather on the way and no Snowpocalypse-repeat in sight (we hope), it’s time to begin contemplating the Great Outdoors. No one’s asking you to step into Thoreau’s Walden world, but if you’re looking to exchange the treadmill for fresh soil, here’s where you should look.

Oregon Ridge Park

Oregon Ridge has a total of nine separate marked trails, all of which combine to make up a nearly six-mile loop around the park. The trails here are strictly for hikers and joggers; no bikes are permitted. If you check the park's online calendar, you’ll see Oregon Ridge sponsors themed hikes nearly every month, including full moon hikes, a “Full Sap Moon Night Hike,” where you’ll tap a tree for sap and make s’mores afterwards, and a “Starry Night Hike,” during which you’ll learn about various constellations.

Beetree Preserve Trail

This is a three-mile trail in Parkton, near the Towson Presbyterian Church. The hiking here is fairly easy and not strenuous, and the trail stays open from March to May.

The TCR/NCR Trail

Starting in Ashland in Hunt Valley, the Torrey C. Brown Trail (since renamed, but it’s the same trail as the North Central Railroad Trail) stretches for 20 miles up to the Pennsylvania border. Hiking and biking are both allowed on this trail. My recommendation is to pick up the trail in Monkton, spend some time biking the TCR/NCR Trail, and then double back to Monkton to unwind with a three-hour inner tube ride down the Gunpowder River. (And it’s never too early to do this—even in August, the water temperature hovers around 55-60 degrees.)

Prettyboy Reservoir Watershed Trail

The Prettyboy Reservoir Trail is near Monkton, off Exit 27 on I-83. Originally cut by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, the Prettyboy Trail is easy hiking near the reservoir: The three-mile trail should take about an hour and a half to complete.