For the Birds
The Maryland Ornithological Society considers nine of the county’s parks to be “hot picks” for bird-watching. Among them is Rock Creek Regional Park in Derwood, where you’ll likely see pileated woodpeckers, roseate terns and Bachman’s sparrows on the trails that adjoin Lake Needwood. Also spotted here: great blue herons, European starlings, great egrets and double-crested cormorants.
Rock Creek Regional Park
6700 Needwood Road, Derwood
montgomeryparks.org/parks-and-trails/rock-creek-regional-park
Great Escape
Among the most remote places you can be in Montgomery County is the hiking-only Western Piedmont Trail, deep inside the 3,700-acre Little Bennett Regional Park in Clarksburg. The 2.1-mile gravel trail, marked as “easy,” is good for birding and enjoying the wildflowers. It crosses through red cedar groves, Wims Meadow, and a bridge over Little Bennett Creek. Dogs on leashes are allowed.
Little Bennett Regional Park
23701 Frederick Road, Clarksburg
montgomeryparks.org/parks-and-trails/little-bennett-regional-park
Playtime
The Greenbriar Local Park in Travilah, which opened in 2016, features a Chesapeake Bay-themed playground designed for kids 2 to 5, along with a Cap’n Crabby fishing boat, riding toys shaped like fish, and the Piedmont Play Fort with curly slides for older kids. The soft rubber ground cover is painted blue to resemble water and features a beige sand dune, driftwood bench and crab pot steps. There’s a shaded open-air pavilion between the two play yards with tables for parents and kids. This 25-acre native grass and wildflower park is themed “The Journey of a Raindrop,” so visitors can learn about Maryland geography, watersheds and the wildlife of the Chesapeake Bay. Also worth a visit: Ellsworth Urban Park playground in Silver Spring, with lots of slides and climbing cubes; and the colorful swings and slide playground at Waters Landing Local Park in Germantown, with its adjacent covered picnic area.
Greenbriar Local Park
12525 Glen Road, Travilah
montgomeryparks.org/parks-and-trails/greenbriar-local-park
Serious Rollerblading
An 8-foot-wide asphalt path, which runs 4.2 miles and includes a wooden boardwalk, attracts rollerbladers to Matthew Henson State Park. Named after Matthew Henson, a Maryland native and arctic explorer, this path runs along Turkey Branch, a tributary of Rock Creek. It has a gradual uphill climb and takes about an hour to complete.
Matthew Henson State Park
801 Littleton St., Aspen Hill
montgomeryparks.org/parks-and-trails/matthew-henson-trail
