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Past keeps cropping up along remote York River Water Trail
Water trails forging new route in Bay's preservation
National Parks in Watershed Looking for Links to Bay
Four sites have joined the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network—Patapsco Valley State Park, the Baltimore & Annapolis Trail and Parkers Creek Watershed Nature Preserve in Maryland and Great Bridge Lock Park in Virginia.
The Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network is a partnership system of 127 refuges, historic ports, museums and trails around the Bay watershed. Each tells a part of the multi-faceted Chesapeake story. Together, they provide a way to experience and understand the Bay as a whole. The new sites are:
- Patapsco Valley State Park stretches along more than 20 miles of the Patapsco River, which flows into the Chesapeake at Baltimore. The park’s 16,000 acres traverse a historic stream valley that was once a hub of development and industrial activity. Today, park visitors explore the valley along 170 miles of walking, horseback riding and biking trails.
- The B&A Trail follows the route of the former Baltimore & Annapolis Railroad. Today, travelers along the 13.3-mile trail can go to or from Annapolis and its many sites by bike or foot. The trail passes through scenic open space, woodlands, pastures, wetlands and a number of historic sites interspersed with business centers and communities.
- Parkers Creek is often described as the last pristine Chesapeake Bay tributary on Maryland’s Western Shore. The 3,000-acre Parkers Creek Watershed Nature Preserve, managed by the American Chestnut Land Trust, conserves the lands surrounding the creek. With 14 miles of trails, visitors can view cliffs, woodlands, farm fields, wetlands, an extensive salt marshland beach and a variety of historic structures.
- Located at the extreme southern end of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, Great Bridge Lock Park encompasses 19 scenic acres along the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal. As part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, the park is truly a southern Gateway to the Bay, the point where thousands of boats enter the Elizabeth River and the Chesapeake system from North Carolina.
While Gateways are managed by a variety of different organizations, the overall Network is coordinated jointly by the National Park Service and the Chesapeake Bay Program.
The “Map & Guide to the Gateways Network” is available, free of charge, to help visitors explore Gateways to the Chesapeake Bay. It can be picked up at most Gateway sites, at many state welcome centers in Maryland and Virginia or by calling, toll-free: 866-BAY-WAYS in Maryland or 888-824-5877 in Virginia.
To learn more about the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network, visit www.baygateways.net
- Baltimore and Annapolis Trail
- Great Bridge Lock Park
- Parkers Creek Watershed Nature Preserve
- Patapsco Valley State Park
