I’d been trying to get Adam to come with us for months, but for varying reasons, it had never worked out. I wanted him to know about all the adventures I’ve taken the boys at this place. I wanted him to experience a little bit of the sanctuary we’d found here. And finally, a perfect fall evening in early November, he took off work early and we left for the woods at Patapsco State Park.

The sun glowed orange and warm, filtering through the bare trees and the leaves and sticks crunched beneath our feet. Everything looked so different in the fall than it does in the summer. The views of the creek were clear, and I could see the dips and rises in the valleys and hills. I saw patterns and waves I’d never noticed when the trees were full of leaves and blocking the underside of the forest.

It wasn’t a perfect night – Rhenner screamed for 15 minutes over reasons unknown, so we dragged him in our arms as he kicked and flailed. Axton whined about having tired feet and protested I can’t walk!! Oh, and Axton also had to “pop a squat” behind a tree (if you know what I mean) and in the middle of this happening, we had a barefoot hippie asking us for directions back to the parking lot while I tried to divert her eyes from what was happening just behind the fallen log. But perfection wasn’t what we were hoping for. What we were hoping for – time together, time in the woods, time in peace and rejuvenation (however small those snippets may have been) – those things we always find, no matter the other distractions, when we’re at Patspco. The other things? That’s just life and I can handle life better when I get outside and exploring in the woods.

Our two favorite locations at Patapsco State Park are the Avalon area and the Hilton area, though there are other locations and entrances. At the Avalon area is where we park to go hiking and swimming. We love the Cascade Falls trail because it is the perfect distance for little feet (I would say only a quarter mile to the waterfall), and the waterfall is small and just the right depth for kids to swim and splash in. Axton always asks to explore the river, so in the summer we dredge up and down the rocks, following the river deep into the woods. After playing in the waterfall and river, we cross over the swinging bridge and set up our towels and a picnic for swimming on the other side of the creek. Next summer we promise to float the river in innertubes or kayaks. Avalon also has a great playground, but beware as it is in full sun and gets super hot later in the day during the summer.

The Hilton Area has an awesome tire park, where all the playground equipment is made of tires. Axton loves climbing on all these structures and bouncing on the tires. We also love hiking at this park! The Forest Glen trail leads down into the Avalon area. This hike is especially fun because there is a tunnel the kids love to go through. To get to the tunnel, it is .7 miles from the trail head, so the hike is a bit longer than the first one. Once you reach the tunnel via the Forest Glen trail, you hit a paved path. We just “hiked” this paved path on Thanksgiving Day and found that it leads to a dam, which is awesome to see. I’ll be excited to go jogging with the jogging stroller on the paved path come spring time!

The Hilton area also has this cute Nature Center with activities for kids, like reading books, looking at animal skins and skeletons, and renting small backpacks with binoculars and magnifying glasses. Kids can walk a short nature path with plants and herbs and flowers. We’ve never camped at this park but think it would be fun to try! They have individual camp sites as well as group sites.

Patapsco is a state park, so they do charge a $2 entry fee per vehicle ($3 for out-of-state). We love this park not only for family outings, but I’ve also shot tons of sessions there! Like The Larsons, Nicki + Rob, The Stays, The Baileys, The Durrants, and Jessica.

Address to the Avalon park:
5120 South St, Arbutus, MD 21227

Address to Hilton/ Tire park:
1001 Hilton Ave Catonsville, MD 21228