Rockburn Branch Park
6105 Rockburn Branch Park Road, Elkridge, MD 21075
Size: 450 acres
Habitat: Varied. Fall Line location. Upland deciduous woods, scrub, field and edge,
floodplain woods along stream, mixed deciduous and pine on the uplands.
Best Months: April and May; late August to mid-October.
Coverage Time: At the peak of spring and fall migration, one can easily spend more than a half day exploring this park. Even in winter or when walking for exercise, it would take two to three hours to cover most of the trails.
Trails/Paths: East Area – Crowsfoot Trail is 2.1 miles and the Old Landing Road Trail is .47 miles.
West Area – Clover Hill Trails are 3.0 miles with some extensions into the East Area. Trails are a combination of packed earth, crushed gravel, asphalt, and mown
grass.
Notable Birds: Ring-necked Pheasant, Wild Turkey, Northern Bobwhite, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Peregrine Falcon, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Yellow-
bellied Flycatcher, Alder Flycatcher, Philadelphia Vireo, Sedge Wren, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Golden-winged Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler, Connecticut Warbler, Summer Tanager, Henslow’s Sparrow, Nelson’s Sparrow, Lincoln’s Sparrow.
Amenities: Restrooms in brick building adjacent to Landing Road office (East Area) open much of the year; portable toilets all year at several locations near pavilion and sports fields. Tot lot, tennis courts, basketball courts, picnic pavilion, a few scattered picnic tables, lighted and regular multi-purpose and baseball/softball
fields; county’s only disc golf course.
Handicapped Access: West Area – There is a short paved path heading west downhill (the entrance is adjacent to the parking lot near the Clover Hill
mansion). Along the front of the mansion and extending north there is a wide crushed gravel road. Both paths contain gentle grades.
Operation and Hours: Howard County park; 7:00 a.m. to dusk or as posted (when there are games on lighted fields, the East Area may be open as late as 11:00 p.m.).
Special Attractions: Several historic buildings in the West Area are a feature of this park. The Clover Hill mansion dating to the early 1800s, the Pfeiffer’s Corner School, the Doyle farmhouse and springhouse, and the cabin are all in the West Area, several are within a few hundred yards of the first parking lot.
Howard County Recreation and Parks information
Nearby Sites: Race Road Wetlands, Avalon/Orange Grove.
Compiler: Joanne Solem
