Feeling cooped up?  Check out our S.M.O.R.E.S. blog! We will take you on a virtual tour of great places available right here in our area.  Discover where you can go to enjoy a variety of recreational activities such as walking, cycling, birding and photography.  Find out about some of our historical destinations!  This time, we’re taking you on a virtual hike through Smallwood State Park!

Click here to access S.M.O.R.E.S. on CCPL’s YouTube channel

For more information and/or to plan your visit, please visit the:

Smallwood State Park

Looking for books on hiking around Maryland?

60 hikes within 60 miles. Baltimore by Alison Strum & Evan Balkan

It’s Time to Take a Hike in Baltimore, Maryland!

The best way to experience Baltimore is by hiking it! Get outdoors with authors Allison Sturm and Evan Balkan, with the new full-color edition of 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Baltimore. A perfect blend of popular trails and hidden gems, the selected trails transport you to scenic overlooks, wildlife hot spots, and historical settings that renew your spirit and recharge your body. You’ll learn about the area and experience nature through 60 of Charm City’s best hikes!

Each hike description features key at-a-glance information on distance, difficulty, scenery, traffic, hiking time, and more, so you can quickly and easily learn about each trail. Detailed directions, GPS-based trail maps, and elevation profiles help to ensure that you know where you are and where you’re going. Tips on nearby activities further enhance your enjoyment of every outing. Whether you’re a local looking for new places to explore or a visitor to the area, 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Baltimore provides plenty of options for a couple hours or a full day of adventure, all within about an hour from Baltimore and the surrounding communities.

Hike Maryland : a guide to the scenic trails of the Free State by Bryan MacKay

Maryland offers its residents and tourists a wealth of natural settings across the Chesapeake basin, through expansive farmland, and to the edge of the Allegheny mountains. Lifelong Marylander, naturalist, and avid hiker Bryan MacKay takes you on 25 hikes through the best and most serene settings across the Free State in Hike Maryland. Each guided trail includes a map, background on the natural history and ecology of the park, forest, or preserve, and a brief essay featuring a local plant, animal, or environmental issue of special interest. Take this book with you as you hike the Appalachian Trail, through Patapsco Valley State Park, along Assateague Island, and across many more settings representing Maryland’s natural heritage.

S.M.O.R.E.S. stands for the Southern Maryland Outdoor Recreational Expedition Series, where we explore nearby places in Southern Maryland to hike. 

This month we’re taking a virtual hiking tour of the coastal trail around Chapman State Park in Indian Head, MD. There is a lot of nature and history to explore!

Go to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources for more information on Chapman State Park. 

Looking for books on hiking around Maryland? 

60 hikes within 60 miles. Baltimore by Alison Strum & Evan Balkan

It’s Time to Take a Hike in Baltimore, Maryland!

The best way to experience Baltimore is by hiking it! Get outdoors with authors Allison Sturm and Evan Balkan, with the new full-color edition of 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Baltimore. A perfect blend of popular trails and hidden gems, the selected trails transport you to scenic overlooks, wildlife hot spots, and historical settings that renew your spirit and recharge your body. You’ll learn about the area and experience nature through 60 of Charm City’s best hikes!

Each hike description features key at-a-glance information on distance, difficulty, scenery, traffic, hiking time, and more, so you can quickly and easily learn about each trail. Detailed directions, GPS-based trail maps, and elevation profiles help to ensure that you know where you are and where you’re going. Tips on nearby activities further enhance your enjoyment of every outing. Whether you’re a local looking for new places to explore or a visitor to the area, 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Baltimore provides plenty of options for a couple hours or a full day of adventure, all within about an hour from Baltimore and the surrounding communities.

Hike Maryland : a guide to the scenic trails of the Free State by Bryan MacKay

Maryland offers its residents and tourists a wealth of natural settings across the Chesapeake basin, through expansive farmland, and to the edge of the Allegheny mountains. Lifelong Marylander, naturalist, and avid hiker Bryan MacKay takes you on 25 hikes through the best and most serene settings across the Free State in Hike Maryland. Each guided trail includes a map, background on the natural history and ecology of the park, forest, or preserve, and a brief essay featuring a local plant, animal, or environmental issue of special interest. Take this book with you as you hike the Appalachian Trail, through Patapsco Valley State Park, along Assateague Island, and across many more settings representing Maryland’s natural heritage.

Getting outdoors and walking in nature is good for the mind and the spirit!

So take yourself, your family, or your friends on a hike! If you have a dog – it will be thrilled to explore all the new sights and smells! All the parks listed here charge no admission fees and are located within 25 miles of the Town of La Plata. You don’t even need hiking boots; all you need to take with you is comfortable athletic shoes, plenty of water, and a few snacks. If you bring your dog, please remember to keep it on a leash at all times and to clean up after it!

Indian Head Rail Trail

The Indian Head Rail Trail is a 13 miles long paved trail.  As word of mouth is spreading about how wonderful this trail is for cycling, rollerblading, birding and walking, the trail is getting particularly crowded on weekends. If you walk from Milepost 0 to Milepost 3, you will be going downhill and on your way back uphill. Keep that in mind because that particular section cannot be described as easy!  From Milepost 3 to Milepost 13, it is mostly flat. Please follow proper trail etiquette: remember to walk on the right side as faster moving trail users (those cycling, rollerblading and/or running) will be passing you on your left! 

Laurel Springs Regional Park

Laurel Springs Regional Park offers an easy, mostly flat, natural trail about 1.6 miles in length. This park is a great place for your family to relax outdoors and for your children to enjoy the playground.

Tilghman Lake Park

Tilghman Lake Park offers an easy, mostly flat, natural trail about one mile in length. This park  has picnic pavilions and a large pond with a dock where you can go fishing. It’s also a great place for birders. 

(NOTE: You may visit both parks in the same outing as Laurel Springs Park and Tilghman Lake Park trail paths connect for a nice 2.6 mile walk.)

Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary 

Mallows Bay Hiking Guide:

Mallows Bay National Marine Sanctuary is truly a beautiful place loved by those who like to explore their surroundings by kayak, for those who enjoy fishing, and for those who simply enjoy sitting down and taking in the water views. Mallows Bay has about 2.6 miles of grassy trails for walking enthusiasts with varying degrees of difficulty. The Beaver Trail is your easy path at about .6 miles in length. 

Port Tobacco River Park and Tom Roland Natural Resource Area

Port Tobacco River Park – Eagle Cam: Port Tobacco River Park and Tom Roland Natural Resource Area is home to an Eagle Cam that has allowed viewers to see up close and personal the nesting habits of Bald Eagles for the past 3 years!  It has about 3 miles of mostly grassy trails with scenic views of the Port Tobacco River.

May is National Bike Month, promoted by the League of American Bicyclists and celebrated in communities from coast to coast. Established in 1956, National Bike Month is a chance to showcase the many benefits of bicycling — and encourage more folks to give biking a try. Grab a good read for the ride!

Cyclopedia: It’s All About the Bike by William Fotheringham

The essential A-Z compendium of everything there is to know about the bicycle, this sports reference is full of amazing facts and enthralling anecdotes. A world of death-defying feats and obscure mechanical oddities, the nature of cycling is both heroic and geeky, and the perils of vicious dogs are given the same attention as the perils of drug and sex scandals. From the history of the Tour de France and Lance Armstrong’s fabled career to the origins of the quick-release system and Chris Hoy’s dominance of the Beijing Velodrome, no element is omitted from this exploration of the bicycle and its faithful riders. Cyclopedia has all the equipment, the races, and the faces needed to convert any amateur cyclist into a fully fledged bike expert.

Bike NYC Ebook by Ed Glazar

With an average of 236,000 New Yorkers biking per day, Bike NYC is the definitive guide to bicycling culture in the city’s fastest growing mode of transportation from the authors of the popular BikeBlogNYC.com. Part guidebook, photo essay, history and human-interest story, this book offers instructions for a dozen rides led by seasoned tour guides through all of the five boroughs. Rediscover the city and its biking culture through:

• A scenic trip up the Hudson during the peak of the fall foliage
• A Halloween night ride through the brownstones of Brooklyn to the parallel universe of the Kensington mansions
• NYC bike clubs such as the Classic Rider
• Front row seats to the Alley Cat races

With extras such as maps, safety tips, bike shop rankings, public bathroom locations, accessories, and fashion dos and don’ts, Bike NYC is the essential guide for urban cyclists.

Urban Cycling : From the BMX to the Fixie by Laurent Belando

This book delves into the cycling culture of the modern city, showcasing the many tribes and subcultures and helping you to find the cycle style that’s right for you.

The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintenance and Repair: For Road and Mountain Bikes by Todd Downs

Freestyle BMX by Isabel Thomas

Examines the extreme sport of freestyle BMX, looking at its history, equipment, tricks, and star riders.

The Urban Biking Handbook Ebook by Charles Haine

The DIY Guide To Building, Rebuilding, Tinkering With, And Repairing Your Bicycle For City Living

Ever wanted to take a bicycle vacation? Go on a bike date? Convert your beater into a fixie? Or are you just curious about the anthropology of urban cycling culture? The Urban Biking Handbook teaches you the anatomy of your bike, how to dismantle it, how to reassemble it, how to make it pretty, how to make it ugly”and most importantly, how to make it yours. Bike your way through car-jammed cities, under overpasses, and over the hills and far away to a cyclist’s paradise. – Learn to repair a flat, modify your handlebars, true your wheel, and fix your bike on the fly. – Not just for gearheads: Learn about what to wear, what to eat, how to pack, and how not to get doored. – Want to build your own bike? Get started with fully photographed tutorials and inspiration from the bike lovers profiled inside. Get your bike on with The Urban Biking Handbook!

Zinn & The Art of Road Bike Maintenance : The World’s Best-selling Bicycle Repair and Maintenance Guide by Lennard Zinn

“From basic repairs like how to fix a flat tire to advanced overhauls of drivetrains and brakes, Lennard Zinn’s clearly illustrated guide makes every bicycle repair and maintenance job easy for everyone. Lennard Zinn is the world’s leading expert on bike maintenance and repair. His friendly step-by-step guide explains the tools you’ll need and how to know you’ve done the job right. The book’s two-color interior is easy to read–even in a dimly-lit garage or workshop. Hundreds of hand-drawn illustrations and exploded parts diagrams show just the right level of detail to lead you through every bicycle repair task. This smartly organized guide shows how to repair new and old bicycles from top to bottom.”– Amazon.com

The Comeback: Greg Lemond, the True King of American Cycling, and A Legendary Tour de France by Daniel De Vise

In July 1986, Greg LeMond stunned the sporting world by becoming the first American to win the Tour de France, the world’s pre-eminent bicycle race, defeating French cycling legend Bernard Hinault. Nine months later, LeMond lay in a hospital bed, his life in peril after a hunting accident, his career as a bicycle racer seemingly over. And yet, barely two years after this crisis, LeMond mounted a comeback almost without parallel in professional sports. In summer 1989, he again won the Tour–arguably the world’s most grueling athletic contest–by the almost impossibly narrow margin of 8 seconds over another French legend, Laurent Fignon. It remains the closest Tour de France in history. The Comeback chronicles the life of one of America’s greatest athletes, from his roots in Nevada and California to the heights of global fame, to a falling out with his own family and a calamitous confrontation with Lance Armstrong over allegations the latter was doping–a campaign LeMond would wage on principle for more than a decade before Armstrong was finally stripped of his own Tour titles. With the kind of narrative drive that propels books like Moneyball, and a fierce attention to detail, Daniel de Visé reveals the dramatic, ultra-competitive inner world of a sport rarely glimpsed up close, and builds a compelling case for LeMond as its great American hero.

Family Biking: The Parents Guide to Safe Cycling by Robert & Christie Hurst

Precious cargo. Biking for two ; Infants on bikes: how young is too young? ; The hazards of family biking ; Defensive biking for parents — Equipment. Kids’ helmets ; Front seats ; Rear seats ; Trailers ; Front-loading cargo bikes ; Cargo trikes ; Long-tail cargo bikes ; Trailer bikes ; Family tandems ; Balance bikes ; Kids’ bikes — Kids on bikes. Teaching kids to ride safely ; The future of kids’ bicycling.

Bike Your Butt Off! A Breakthrough Plan to Lose Weight and Start Cycling by Selene Yeager with Leslie Bonci MPH, RD

Get your wheels spinning — Put the pedal down — Enjoy the ride — Rules of the road — Keep on rolling — Explore! — Pedal with purpose — Strengthen your frame (the human one that is!) — The long ride — Get off your butt — Miles and milestones — Don’t stop now! highly effective habits of lifelong cyclists.

S.M.O.R.E.S. stands for the Southern Maryland Outdoor Recreational Expedition Series, where we explore nearby places in Southern Maryland to hike. 

This month we’re taking a virtual hiking tour of the coastal trail around Chapman State Park in Indian Head, MD. There is a lot of nature and history to explore!

Go to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources for more information on Chapman State Park. 

Looking for books on hiking around Maryland?

60 Hikes Within 60 Miles. Baltimore by Alison Strum & Evan Balkan

It’s Time to Take a Hike in Baltimore, Maryland!

The best way to experience Baltimore is by hiking it! Get outdoors with authors Allison Sturm and Evan Balkan, with the new full-color edition of 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Baltimore. A perfect blend of popular trails and hidden gems, the selected trails transport you to scenic overlooks, wildlife hot spots, and historical settings that renew your spirit and recharge your body. You’ll learn about the area and experience nature through 60 of Charm City’s best hikes!

Each hike description features key at-a-glance information on distance, difficulty, scenery, traffic, hiking time, and more, so you can quickly and easily learn about each trail. Detailed directions, GPS-based trail maps, and elevation profiles help to ensure that you know where you are and where you’re going. Tips on nearby activities further enhance your enjoyment of every outing. Whether you’re a local looking for new places to explore or a visitor to the area, 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Baltimore provides plenty of options for a couple hours or a full day of adventure, all within about an hour from Baltimore and the surrounding communities.

Hike Maryland : A Guide to the Scenic Trails of the Free State by Bryan MacKay

Maryland offers its residents and tourists a wealth of natural settings across the Chesapeake basin, through expansive farmland, and to the edge of the Allegheny mountains. Lifelong Marylander, naturalist, and avid hiker Bryan MacKay takes you on 25 hikes through the best and most serene settings across the Free State in Hike Maryland. Each guided trail includes a map, background on the natural history and ecology of the park, forest, or preserve, and a brief essay featuring a local plant, animal, or environmental issue of special interest. Take this book with you as you hike the Appalachian Trail, through Patapsco Valley State Park, along Assateague Island, and across many more settings representing Maryland’s natural heritage.

Feeling cooped up?  Check out our first S.M.O.R.E.S. blog! We will take you on a virtual tour of great places available right here in our area.  Discover where you can go to enjoy a variety of recreational activities such as walking, cycling, birding, and photography.  Find out about some of our historical destinations!  Join us for our 1st blog @ Thomas Stone! 

Click here to access S.M.O.R.E.S. on CCPL’s YouTube channel.

For more information and/or to plan your visit, please visit the:

Thomas Stone National Historic Site (US National Park Service)

Craving more adventure? Check out our catalog where we have more books on local hikes! To get you started, might we suggest the following book? And don’t forget to check back to see what other expeditions we will go on!

60 hikes within 60 miles. Baltimore by Alison Strum & Evan Balkan

It’s Time to Take a Hike in Baltimore, Maryland!

The best way to experience Baltimore is by hiking it! Get outdoors with authors Allison Sturm and Evan Balkan, with the new full-color edition of 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Baltimore. A perfect blend of popular trails and hidden gems, the selected trails transport you to scenic overlooks, wildlife hot spots, and historical settings that renew your spirit and recharge your body. You’ll learn about the area and experience nature through 60 of Charm City’s best hikes!

Each hike description features key at-a-glance information on distance, difficulty, scenery, traffic, hiking time, and more, so you can quickly and easily learn about each trail. Detailed directions, GPS-based trail maps, and elevation profiles help to ensure that you know where you are and where you’re going. Tips on nearby activities further enhance your enjoyment of every outing. Whether you’re a local looking for new places to explore or a visitor to the area, 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Baltimore provides plenty of options for a couple hours or a full day of adventure, all within about an hour from Baltimore and the surrounding communities.

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