Sewells Orchard Park
6455 Sewells Orchard Drive, Columbia, MD 21045
This 25-acre neighborhood park features three stormwater management ponds connected by a paved path system.
Amenities: On-street parking, best along Sewells Orchard Drive. No facilities. Paved path around all or portions of three ponds.
Handicapped Access: Paved, mostly level path.
Habitat: This park has 25 acres of land plus the 4.6 acres of water surface of the three ponds. Trees and shrubbery surround significant portions of pond edges. A one-mile paved path encircles two of the ponds with an offshoot at the western end of the park leading to the third pond. Most of the park is within 100-200 feet of residential structures. Mown grass, planted exotics in yards, and occasional bird feeders provide additional variety. Mostly good views of the sky. This park abuts field habitat along the transmission lines.
Layout: Although there are multiple entry points to the park, the most central is via Sewell’s Orchard Drive, which intersects with Loring Drive. The three ponds are separated by three foot bridges that serve as good viewing platforms. Additionally, there are two piers in the largest of the three contiguous ponds (pond three). Water in the three flows from west to east. An isolated fourth pond ~1,000 feet south of the main park lacks easy access.
A one-mile paved path encircles ponds two and three. A short paved path leads to an upper pond (pond one). Although there is no paved path around it, the area adjacent to the water is public land. A patch of deciduous woods and scrub below the pond three dam slopes to the open, grassy powerline cut. At the southwestern corner of pond three, a paved Columbia Association path along the BG&E right-of-way follows a creek to a bridge and eventually to Dobbin Road.
Howard County Recreation and Parks information
Compilers: Joanne Solem, Chris Toscano, and Jenny McClintock
