| "If your dog is fat," the old saying goes, "you | | | | and Fort Smallwood Park. As for Baltimore's most |
| aren't getting enough exercise." But walking the | | | | famous fort, dogs are also welcome at Fort |
| dog need not be just about a little exercise. Here | | | | McHenry National Monument. Unlike the others, |
| are 13 cool things you can see in greater | | | | your best friend won't be able to explore the |
| Baltimore while you hike with your | | | | actual fort but there is plenty of fresh grass to |
| dog.AIRPLANES. The BWI Airport is the only | | | | romp on outside the bastion walls.HENRYTON |
| airport in America that features a recreational trail. | | | | TUNNEL. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad built its |
| The Thomas A. Dixon Jr. Aircraft Observation | | | | first line west along the Patapsco River and the |
| Area on this 12.5-mile paved trail, opened in 1994, | | | | trails at Henryton Road in Patapsco State Park |
| provides an ideal spot to watch the planes land | | | | follow a particularly historic stretch of the Old Main |
| directly in front of you. You won't be able to see | | | | Line. On a rainy night in 1830 Irish laborers, tired |
| the rubber hit the ground here but can see it | | | | of waiting for back pay, rioted and managed to |
| from other spots along the trail. To get the feel | | | | destroy all this track for five miles to Sykesville. |
| of a big jet soaring directly over your head walk | | | | The disturbance prompted the first ever |
| down a half-mile to the east (you'll see stop signs) | | | | American troop transport by train when the |
| and stand here. It won't be only jets using the | | | | Baltimore militia rode out to squelch the rampage. |
| airport either - you can spot an occasional | | | | When the trail crosses this section of railroad |
| propeller plane as well.AMUSEMENT PARK RUINS. | | | | track look to the west and see the Henryton |
| Although only 20 acres in size, the Bay Shore | | | | Tunnel. Opened in 1850, it is the second-oldest |
| Park was considered one of the finest | | | | tunnel in the world that remains in active railroad |
| amusement parks ever built along the | | | | use.MODEL TRAINS. Thomas Winans made his |
| Chesapeake Bay. Built in 1906, the park featured | | | | fortune building the Russian transcontinental |
| an Edwardian-style dance hall, bowling alley and | | | | railroad for Czar Nicholas I. He learned railroading |
| restaurant set among gardens and curving | | | | from his father Ross who invented the swivel |
| pathways. There were rides such as a water | | | | wheel truck that enabled trains to negotiate |
| toboggan and Sea Swing. Visitors would come out | | | | curves. Their railroad heritage is preserved at |
| from Baltimore on a trolley line. Most of the park | | | | Leakin Park in Baltimore by the Chesapeake & |
| was torn down after its closure in 1947 but you | | | | Allegheny Live Steamers who maintain three miles |
| and the dog can explore the remains of the | | | | of track for miniature steam trains that carry |
| turn-of-the-century amusement park, including the | | | | passengers (sorry, no dogs) free of charge the |
| wood-framed trolley station and the restored | | | | second Sunday of every month. Capable of |
| ornamental fountain, in North Shore State Park. | | | | speeds of 25 mph, the trains rumble along instead |
| Complete your tour with a hike down the old | | | | at a passenger-friendly 6 mph.MODERN ART. The |
| Bayshore Pier which juts almost a quarter-mile | | | | natural beauty of Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis |
| into the wind-swept Bay - a diving board once | | | | is augmented by the outdoor sculptures that |
| operated here where benches are today.BALD | | | | grace the grounds. Sculptures are chosen by jury |
| EAGLES. With nearly 13,000 acres of undeveloped | | | | from national and international artists working with |
| space, the Patuxent Research Refuge is said to | | | | a variety of material and installed on a rotating |
| be the largest patch of green space remaining on | | | | basis. When your dog tires of sniffing the |
| the East Coast between Boston and Raleigh. | | | | statuary, you can take her to Anne Arundel |
| Research done here was used by Rachel Carson | | | | County's first dog park at the back of Quiet |
| to argue that the pesticide DDT was weakening | | | | Waters. Not only are there two large fenced-in |
| the shells of bird eggs, especially bald eagles, | | | | enclosures for big and small dogs but there is a |
| causing them not to hatch. Her book, Silent Spring, | | | | dog beach on the South River for serious dog |
| led to the banning of DDT and launched the | | | | paddling.POT ROCKS. From the parking lot on US |
| modern environmental movement. Today more | | | | 1 at the Big Gunpowder Falls there is great canine |
| than 250 species - 8 of every 10 birds that can | | | | hiking on both sides of the river in either direction. |
| be seen in the Baltimore area - have been sighted | | | | On the opposite bank heading downstream on the |
| at Patuxent, including a pair of nesting bald eagles | | | | Big Gunpowder Trail, about a mile down, are the |
| in the North Tract in Anne Arundel County. These | | | | Pot Rocks. You and the dog can walk out and |
| representatives of America's national symbol quite | | | | examine the conical depressions created in the |
| possibly could be the bald eagles living closest to | | | | bedrock by swirling waters armed with millions of |
| the White House. Don't let your dog dig around at | | | | years worth of grinding cobbles. These unique |
| the North Tract - this land was once a testing | | | | potholes can be a foot or more deep. Keep hiking |
| ground for Fort Meade and may still harbor live | | | | another two miles down the river and you reach |
| ammunition.If you aren't lucky enough to spot the | | | | the last series of rapids on the Gunpowder as the |
| eagles in flight at the refuge, try hiking the | | | | water leaves the hilly Piedmont region and slips |
| Hashawha Trails at the Bear Branch Nature | | | | into the flat Coastal Plain.RARE TREES. Growing |
| Center in Carroll County. Here is the chance for | | | | unobtrusivley beside the parking lot at Tridelphia |
| your curious dog to look a bald eagle in the eye. | | | | Recreation Area is one of the rarest native |
| The Nature Center maintains a M.A.S.H. unit for | | | | ornamental trees in the world, the Franklinia |
| raptors who have been injured too badly to be | | | | Alatamaha. A relative of the camelia, this |
| returned to the wild. The cages for eagles, | | | | flowering tree is prized at any time of the year - |
| kestrels, hawks, owls, turkey vultures and other | | | | in the winter for its striped bark, in the summer |
| recovering birds of prey are on the Vista | | | | for its palm-sized snow white flowers, and in the |
| Trail.CANAL LOCK. Near North Park in Havre de | | | | fall for its deep red leaves. The Franklinia was |
| Grace, the 444-mile Susquehanna River is busy | | | | discovered by Philadelphia botanist John Bartram in |
| emptying 19 million gallons of fresh water every | | | | 1765 in a remote corner of Georgia along the |
| minute into the Chesapeake Bay that it has | | | | Alatamaha River and named for his friend |
| drained from 13 million acres of land. The rocky | | | | Benjamin Franklin. It has not been found growing |
| river upstream from here, however, is not | | | | in the wild since 1790.For a true arboreal education |
| navigable and the 45-mile Susquehanna and | | | | however, treat the dog to Cylburn Arboretum in |
| Tidewater Canal opened for barges, pulled at 4 | | | | Baltimore, one of the few such tree museums |
| miles per hour by mules, to haul goods between | | | | that permit dogs on the grounds. The collection at |
| Havre de Grace and Wrightsville, Pennsylvania. | | | | Cylburn features several Maryland Big Tree |
| The first of 29 locks operated here and it has | | | | Champions including an Italian maple and a |
| been restored to its original appearance including a | | | | paperback maple. Two easy champions to see |
| pivoting footbridge that swung open to allow | | | | are on the lawn in the right front of the mansion: |
| barge traffic to pass. The handsome brick Lock | | | | a castor aralia with large glossy leaves and an |
| House, now a museum open on weekends, dates | | | | Amur maackia. Both trees are native to Asia and |
| to the canal's opening in 1840. The large grassy | | | | are resilient to pests. The maackia is a member |
| lawn can be used for a first-rate game of | | | | of the pea family discovered by 19th century |
| fetch.CHOATE MINE. The first chromium mines in | | | | explorer Karlovich Maack along the Amur River |
| America were opened in rural Baltimore County in | | | | between Siberia and China.UNUSUAL BRIDGES. |
| 1808 and from 1828 to 1850 just about every | | | | Hiking in Gunpowder Falls State Park in Harford |
| scrap of chrome in the world came from here. | | | | County, downstream from Jerusalem Mill about 1 |
| Along the Choate Mine Trail in Soldiers Delight | | | | 2 mile, is Jericho Covered Bridge, one of only six |
| Natural Environmental Area you can stand in front | | | | remaining covered bridges in Maryland and the |
| of the entrance to the Choate Mine and look into | | | | only one of its kind in Baltimore and Harford |
| the slanting hole kept open by half-timbered posts. | | | | counties. Old folk wisdom held that these bridges |
| So close the cool air will rustle your dog's fur. The | | | | were built to resemble a barn so as to entice a |
| mine once ran 200 feet deep and 160 feet | | | | wary horse across water but the bridges are |
| across.DAMS. After a long hike at Robert E. Lee | | | | covered simply to protect the expensive wooden |
| Park around Lake Roland you can sit on top of | | | | decks. The ford at this point across the Little |
| the Greek Revival valve house completed in 1862 | | | | Gunpowder Falls dates to Colonial times; the |
| and look over the stone dam. Lake Roland, | | | | bridge was constructed in 1865. Builder Thomas F. |
| created after plugging up Jones Falls, was | | | | used three truss types in its construction: the |
| Baltimore's first reservoir. This smallish dam is just | | | | simple Multiple King Post; the horizontal Queen |
| an appetizer for the dams yet to come that | | | | Post extension; and the Burr Arch, patented in |
| were built to quench Baltimore's thirst. Others to | | | | 1804 by Theodore Burr, for stability. Renovated in |
| see include hiking to the base of Liberty Dam at | | | | 1981, the Jericho Covered Bridge still carries |
| the end of Feezer's Lane in Patapsco State Park | | | | traffic.In Howard County's Savage Park, on |
| or using the Gunpowder South Trail in the | | | | Foundry Road at the trailhead for the Historic Mill |
| Hereford section of Gunpowder Falls State Park | | | | Trail, is the last remaining Bollman Truss bridge in |
| to see the Prettyboy Dam, built in 1933. No tour | | | | the world. Your dog can trot across the first |
| of Baltimore's dams would be complete without a | | | | successful iron bridge used by railroads, patented |
| visit to Conowingo Dam, America's longest | | | | by Wendell A. Bolman in 1852. This example, a |
| concrete slab dam across the Susquehanna River. | | | | National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, |
| You can take the dog to gaze out at the | | | | originally carried traffic on the Baltimore & Ohio |
| Conowingo Dam in Susquehanna State | | | | main line but was disassembled and put into |
| Park.FORTS. At Fort Howard Park your dog can | | | | service here for Savage Mill in 1887.copyright |
| climb into an actual gun battery and scan the | | | | 2006I am the author of over 20 books, including |
| Patapsco River just like gunnery officers who | | | | 8 on hiking with your dog, including the |
| once aimed guns capable of accurately firing 1,000 | | | | widely praised The Canine Hiker's Bible. As |
| pound projectiles eight miles. Ruins abound at the | | | | publisher of Cruden Bay Books, we |
| former "Bulldog at Baltimore's Gate," including | | | | produce the innovative A Bark In The Park |
| remainders left over from the 1960s when a | | | | series of canine hiking books found at |
| mock Vietnamese village was created for training | | | | During the warm months I lead canine hikes as |
| at Fort Howard. Batteries and magazines that | | | | tour leader for tours, leading packs of dogs and |
| once formed the coastal defense of Baltimore in | | | | humans on |
| 1899 can also be seen at Fort Armistead Park | | | | day and overnight trips. |