Loch Raven Reservoir – Glen Ellen trail – 4 miles

1/7/2020

Glen Ellen trail – unnamed trail – back to Glen Ellen – unnamed again – Sams Grave trail – Glen Ellen trail – unnamed trail again – back on Glen Ellen trail.

Elevation gain 495ft.

AllTrails shows Glen Ellen as a blue line but we wondered off on the black a bunch of times, mostly keeping to the right when it was possible to make our loop the longest.

Location: Intersection of Providence rd. and Loch Raven drive, Lutherville Timonium, MD 21093

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“Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.”

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First I was relying on my GPS to take us to Loch Raven Reservoir. I thought if it’s listed in my car’s Parks list, it will direct us to a parking area. Like a visitor center. Thought wrong. We drove around on a huge loop, instead of just either navigating us on Seminary rd. or Providence rd.

To get to this particular trail easiest way is to take the Providence rd. exit (N/NE) off of 695. Drive till it ends and park on the left side in the makeshift parking area.

Entrance looks pretty rough right now but I guess they are working on making it more civilized and less muddy.

In a few hundred feet we took the first opportunity to turn right, off on a smaller trail (marked with black lines in AllTrails). This is a beautiful scenic trail in the winter when all the trees are naked and there’s pretty much no groundcover. It follows Loch Raven drive – winds along below us – until it takes us out to the very edge, where it end at the bridge above the Reservoir. Visible on this pic in the far distance in the middle.

While minding our own business, running through the woods, we encountered a pair of Bald eagles screaming above the road. Tried several times to record their voice but they resisted the urge to entertain us.

I took this pano on the ridge dividing the Reservoir’s Peterson Branch from Gunpowder Falls. The view is amazing here!

While we were watching every step we took – stony path – one of the bald eagles flew above our heads and weightlessly hovered above the water.

At the end of this portion of the trail we were on the very end of a rock formation, overlooking the bridge. Cars zoomed by us just about 20 feet away. We could have gone down to the edge of the water but I didn’t want Mag to get wet. It’s way too cold for that.

After enjoying a few minutes here, we headed back up and followed the sister trail about 10 feet away from the one we came on, keeping right when it was possible.

Not much later we found ourselves down at the waters edge. Mag ended up in the water anyway while I was taking pictures wowed by the scenery.

It was so serene and quiet there, I could actually hear Mag thinking….

Occasionally a few ducks cried out and I could hear planes zooming by ten thousand feet above us but that was it. It was awesome! It was – is – paradise. Give me a log cabin there….I am moving in!

And yet another Bald Eagle flew above our heads (could’ve been the same one, playing games with us). Its really hard to take a photo of a flying bird even as big as these fantastic creatures. I heard the sound they make cutting through the air first, then tried to focus locating the bird through the branches of the trees. By the time that happened, it was too far away to snap a pic.

The weather forecast predicted snow and I was waiting for the moment to capture the first flakes while in the middle of the woods. Now looking back on these pictures….I cannot see a single flake but I swear it was coming down pretty good. And it was magical!

I don’t like to put my face on social media – that’s the reason Mag has a Facebook page instead of me – but I’m utterly happy here! And you can actually see water droplets aka snow on his whiskers!

I don’t think it’s possible for me to love anything as much as I love hiking, except my family. It was cold, it was wet, it was muddy, snow started coming down pretty hard towards the end but it was also perfect! Just us in the woods….

I noticed this arborglyph from ’74 on a tree close to the end of our loop. It would be pretty neat to find the person who did it…. J.G.

By the time we got back to the car it really started coming down. Very wet snow but heavily falling nonetheless.

Mag got pretty wet so I bundled him up for a sec to dry him. His paw pads got super clean from walking in the snow for the last fifteen minutes. The top portion was a different story though. I am sure he was hoping to skip bath time….but that didn’t happen.

Here is our trail map with the starting point magnified.

Another lovely location added to our list of awesome local trails. We hope you all got the bug as well the check it out for yourself! You won’t regret it!

Just remember! Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but pictures, kill nothing but time!

Leave no trace!

Happy trailing this weekend!