An Earth Day Dog Hike: Rachel Carson Conservation Park

My pups and I were looking for a special Earth Day dog hike when it occurred to me that a fitting way to spend the day would be at the Rachel Carson Conservation Park, near Brookeville, MD in Montgomery County. After all, Ms. Carson’s scientific work, combined with her poetic writing style, provided for a greater understanding of scientific research to the general public and gave rise to environmental concerns facing our country.

Carson – born in a small Pennsylvania town near the Allegheny River, but who lived most of her adult life in Montgomery County, MD – was a marine biologist, ecologist and writer. During the Depression, she wrote radio scripts for the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries and articles on natural history for the Baltimore Sun. She segued into a 15-year stretch at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as a scientist, editor and then Editor-in-Chief of their publications.

But in her free time, she wrote about the ocean. Between 1941 and 1955, she published three books that garnered her fame as a naturalist and science writer. All three best-selling books – Under the Sea-Wind (1941), The Sea Around Us (1952, U.S. National Book Award for Nonfiction), and The Edge of the Sea (1955) – are biographies of the ocean that are still relevant today.

Following the success of her “sea trilogy” and her thrust into the public spotlight, Carson left government work in 1952 to devote herself to writing. Perhaps her best-known book, Silent Spring (1962), warned the public about the effects and misuse of chemical pesticides. Debate ensued following publication and Carson testified before Congress in 1963, calling for new policies to protect human health and the environment. Her work spurred a nationwide ban of DDT and other pesticides.

Her final book, The Sense of Wonder (1965), was published a year following her death from breast cancer. She is buried in Rockville, MD and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter.

Rachel Carson Conservation Park

The Rachel Carson Conservation Park – a 650-acre piece of land set aside for environmental preservation – was dedicated in Carson’s honor in 1977. There’s no fanfare, no statues or plaques. Conservation plain and simple. The way she would want it.

This park is part of a broader approved plan for The Rachel Carson Greenway, a 25-mile stretch of trails that will connect the Anacostia Trail System in Prince George’s County, the Rachel Carson Conservation Park, the Underground Railway Trail (see our trail tale here) and the Northwest Branch Trail in Silver Spring. Eventually, the goal is to create a 50-mile contiguous trail system in Maryland that would connect the Rachel Carson Greenway to the Seneca Creek Greenway and the Potomac River.

The Rachel Carson Conservation Park has more than 6 miles of trails, featuring fields, hardwood forest, unique rock outcroppings, and a portion of the Hawlings River, a 13-mile tributary of the Patuxent River. It’s perfect for a dog hike with trails ranging from easy to moderate.

Bird watchers will cherish this park, not only for the forest birds, but also for the Fox Meadow Loop (0.8 miles) that features an open field and a plethora of bird houses that are busy with feathered frenzy.

You will follow a portion of the Fox Meadow Loop in order to find the trailhead and entrance to the forest. My advice is that you either take a copy of a trail map with you or you take a photo of the trail map posted in the parking lot.

You will start off on the Rachel Carson Greenway Trail, an approximately 4 mile trail that partly follows along the Hawlings River. This trail connects with five shorter trails, some that will guide you on side excursions, while others provide a loop back to the parking lot. You will want to know which trail does which.

On our hike today, we took portions of the Fox Meadow Loop, Rachel Carson Greenway Trail and the Hidden Pond Trail, where there is indeed a hidden pond. The park is truly an enjoyable venture that immerses you in the woods. It is hilly and the Greenway Trail can be quite muddy along the river. Wear your boots.

Happy Tails and Happy Trails!

About This Hike:

Distance: There are more than six miles of trails. For park information, click here. To download a trail map, click here.

• Rachel Carson Greenway Trail – 4 miles, intermediate.
• Fox Meadow Loop – 0.8 miles, easy.
• River Otter Trail – 0.7 miles, intermediate.
• Fern Valley Trail – 1.0 miles, intermediate.
• Hidden Pond Trail – 0.5 miles, intermediate.
• Scarlet Tanager Trail – 0.4 miles, easy.
• Chestnut Oak Trail – 0.4 miles, easy.

Difficulty of today’s hike: Easy to moderate, as there are hills and rock outcroppings.

Trailhead: 22201 Zion Rd., Brookeville, MD 20833. There is ample parking for vehicles and horse trailers.

Admission fee: None.

Facilities: No restrooms or water available.

Notable: This is a pedestrian and equestrian park. No bikes allowed.