There’s Rock Creek Park as in the national park that’s in DC, and there’s Rock Creek Regional Park as in the extension of that park north into Maryland. The Maryland one consists of a ton of smaller trails and park areas along the Rock Creek Trail, as well as two parks with two lakes right by each other divided by Avery Road.
Lake Frank/Meadowside
I checked out Lake Frank on a Saturday morning in February, from the trailhead just off Avery Road. I’ve been to Meadowside many times before but hadn’t come around the lake this way.
Ah, two ways to go along the same path. Must mean there is a way to go all the way around the lake then. I had remembered it being more complicated than that in the past when I had considered doing so, but maybe they blazed new trails? Anyway, I turned right here.
Now up out of the woods and atop this dam path.
Wow, look at that frozen lake.
Coming off the dam the path was snowier but still paved and wide. For a little while, two people walking two dogs weren’t far behind me and I could hear their conversation. Seemed a mother and adult son, and she was speaking Russian and he was speaking English. Eventually they turned away along a path toward a nearby neighborhood.
Where that path met this path was a sign for the park.
Oh, the water in Rock Creek parkland is to be avoided? Shocker!
What the…? People do that?! And a lot, apparently, since this is a metal sign they had to have made.
The wide paved path continued, on what clearly was once a driveable road. Even came to what was once a parking lot. After that, the path became gravel and a little muddy in places and then back to asphalt.
The path veered to the left, when I thought it might finally curve around to the other side of the lake. But instead the path kept going northward away from the lake now. Is this right? I saw a smaller dirt path through the woods to the left, which I figured must be it. I followed it for a bit, negotiating a muddy hill at a crossroad, to find two of the apparent crossroads were dead-ends, and the other way went off in the other direction away from the lake.
Maybe I missed the actual path? I retraced my steps and did find some sort-of paths toward the lake, but they too went nowhere.
Screw it, I’ll just go back the way I came. So I did.
Returning to the parking lot a while later, I consulted the posted map. Ah. I would have had to stay on the main path a while longer and then cross the creek and switch through some other paths. Yup. Like I remembered. It’s complicated.
Staying on that path would have led to the Meadowside area, which I visited separately a month later on a much warmer day. It’s off Muncaster Mill Road, and the road in passes by the Smith Center, where I’d gone on an 8th grade field trip where we went through a sort of “confidence course”. You know, like where you have to use team work to climb over a wall or up a tube or something.
Parked near the nature center and headed toward the trailhead.
“Peek behind the bee hotel to find out.” Uh… I’ll pass.
There’s the path and the creek down this way.
Got down there and turned left, heading up the creek and in the direction of Muncaster Mill Road.
I know it’s up here somewhere…
There!
Already made an appearance once on here.
It’s the tree that’s four trees!
Continuing on…
There’s a bunch of deer ahead crossing the creek. I stayed put for a bit while they did so.
Alright, moving on.
And end of the line. And some old ruins. Kind of just looks like half a basement.
Back the other way. I went on past the path back up to the parking lot for now. Let’s see if I can check out something else first.
Should be here somewhere.
Ah, here’s the crossing. Hmmm.
I think this, on the other side, was the point I needed to reach last month to get all the way around Lake Frank.
Lake Needwood
Visited Lake Needwood in the week before Meadowside.
Cool.
This lake’s nice and all, but I’m not sure it’s ‘queen’ material.
Yeah, that’s been made beyond abundantly clear at this point.
Lots of them around today.
How to boat.
Past the dock area now and onto the lakeside trail.
It’s raining now but the path is staying firm. Seems to be an island out there on the lake.
Closer to it now. I hear a ton of geese honking over there, some flying around and swimming in the water just off it. I wonder if they’re having a meeting. Perhaps about how humans should throw more bread to them. And you just know there’s one or two of them who piped up that the bread is actually bad for them but the others are absolutely not having it.
There’s still more trails and waterways to check out throughout the region. Around here, whether Seneca Creek or Rock Creek or the myriad of others, they’re all flowing to the same place…