| Broad Creek | 13 Oct 2009 |
Hiking the Trails of Broad Creekby erik |
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It's not well publicized, but there are miles of hiking trails behind the Anne Arundel County offices of the Department of Recreation and Parks and the Health Department. The area is formally known as Broad Creek Park, and probably constitutes about 100 acres of forest with running/hiking trails through it that border and cross the tributary network feeding Broad Creek. All of this area is public property.
The trail has a great view of the top of Broad Creek (below), which is comprised mostly of tidal marsh and forested side slopes, and is getting ready to really start changing colors with the drop in temperature.

The trails also give a great view of what is clearly one of Broad Creek's persistent sources of downstream pollution and marsh expansion - serious stream bank erosion (below). Anecdotal accounts from runners who have used the trails for years document how this eroding material has caused the formerly inundated marshes near tidewater to be converted to dryer environments that now support trees and more upland species.








