Patuxent Confluence LbNA #19369
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Add Location| Owner: | wood thrush  |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Nov 20, 2005 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Savage |
| County: | Howard |
| State: | Maryland |
| Boxes: | 1 |
| Found by: | TabbyCat |
|---|---|
| Last found: | Apr 23, 2017 |
| Status: | FFFFFFFFFFFaFOFF |
| Last edited: | Nov 20, 2005 |
This box is in the same neighborhood as our Hogs Neck and Wincopin Daffodil letterboxes. The intrepid letterboxer will take note, and perhaps spend an afternoon in this delightful park!
This box takes you to visit the confluence of the Middle Patuxent and Little Patuxent Rivers, on a very scenic and historic two-mile walk along a well-marked trail system. Along the way, you will visit both these rivers as you travel a peninsula down to its point (the confluence) and then back to your vehicle. Note also that this box is in the same section of Savage Park as our Hog's Neck Boxes series.
Driving directions. From either the Baltimore or Washington, D.C., area, take I-95 to the exit for Route 32 west. Take the first exit for Broken Land Parkway. Stay to the left. At the end of the exit ramp, make a left turn onto Broken Land Parkway, and follow it to its end at a traffic light. Make a left turn at this light onto Guilford Road. Stay to the right, and at the next light, make a right turn onto Murray Hill Road. Follow this road to a left turn at Vollmerhausen Road. You will see a wooden sign for “Huntington.” Travel Vollmerhausen until you cross over I-95 and begin going down a hill. After a short distance, look to your right for the parking lot that leads to the Wincopin trailheads in Savage Park. If you reach the bottom of the hill and begin to climb the other side, you have gone too far and will need to turn around.
To the letterbox. Park in the lot. Notice an informative board with, among other things, a map of the trail system in this part of the park. You will be starting out on the red-blazed Wincopin trail, and then traveling the length of the green-blazed Quarry Run Trail, which loops you back to your starting point.
Head into the woods, on a paved trail that quickly turns into a dirt footpath. Follow the trail past one left junction with the green trail, then at about .4 mile, go left at the second green trail junction. Note that if you go to the right at this junction, you will head in the direction of our Hog's Neck Boxes series.
Soon on your right you can visit a pretty overlook across the Middle Patuxent River. Now you will walk along a ledge, gradually descending to the river below.
When you come to the river’s edge at about .8 miles, you’ll make a left turn and walk downstream.
In another half mile (1.3 miles total) you will come to the concrete abutment of the "Gabbro Bridge," an old railroad bridge. The bridge that used to stand here was the twin of the still-existing Pratt Bridge that you can visit in our Little Patuxent River Box #2. It was here that the Patuxent Branch railroad crossed the confluence of the rivers, making its way into Savage, then joining up with the main B&O tracks on the other side of Route 1. This branch railroad once carried granite from the quarry in Guilford, several miles upstream on the Little Patuxent side. You can visit the quarry site; today it is a scenic “pond” next to an office building on Guilford Road. Explore the ruins if you’d like—the bridge was washed out in the flooding that accompanied Hurricane Agnes in 1972.
The confluence of the Middle and Little Patuxent Rivers is just a few yards downstream from this abutment!
The green trail makes a left turn here at a short wooden post, so turn left and walk to the first green blaze on a beech tree to your right. Look at the trail ahead of you. There are some old downed logs on a hill to your left, and if you have a sharp eye, you can spy a blue-blaze on a tree at the crest of this hill.
Walk ahead on the trail 36 steps and you will be next to a large tree on the left that bends ever so slightly towards the trail. Now take 27 more steps ahead. You will see an old thin, broken log headed up the hill. Walk up the hill with this log on your left. It is about 25 steps to the top. You are now standing on the blue trail. At 270 degrees is another broken log headed up another hill.
Walk up this hill, about 15 steps, with the log on your right. Ahead of you in the near distance is the confluence. Behind the log on the north side, and on the downhill end (not the end at the top of the hill), the letterbox is tucked away behind many leaves. The log is a good place to sit and stamp in while you enjoy the gurgling confluence.
To return to your vehicle, scramble back down to the green trail, which now is tracing the old railroad tracks of the Patuxent Branch. Just like when you sought the Little Patuxent River box, if you keep a sharp eye out, you’ll be able to spot blocks of granite along the path that fell off the flatbed rail cars during their journey. To your right is the Little Patuxent River. At 1.7 miles you will see some strange building ruins to your left, which probably belonged to another rock quarry.
At 1.9 miles, the green trail makes a sharp left and begins to climb back up to the ridge. The trail is steep for about 150 yards, then levels out again. At 2.1 miles the green trail ends at the red trail. Turn right here to get back to the parking lot, or head to the left and go after the Hog's Neck Boxes.
We hope you enjoy the Patuxent Confluence letterbox and your scenic walk through the peninsula to the place where the rivers join!
This box takes you to visit the confluence of the Middle Patuxent and Little Patuxent Rivers, on a very scenic and historic two-mile walk along a well-marked trail system. Along the way, you will visit both these rivers as you travel a peninsula down to its point (the confluence) and then back to your vehicle. Note also that this box is in the same section of Savage Park as our Hog's Neck Boxes series.
Driving directions. From either the Baltimore or Washington, D.C., area, take I-95 to the exit for Route 32 west. Take the first exit for Broken Land Parkway. Stay to the left. At the end of the exit ramp, make a left turn onto Broken Land Parkway, and follow it to its end at a traffic light. Make a left turn at this light onto Guilford Road. Stay to the right, and at the next light, make a right turn onto Murray Hill Road. Follow this road to a left turn at Vollmerhausen Road. You will see a wooden sign for “Huntington.” Travel Vollmerhausen until you cross over I-95 and begin going down a hill. After a short distance, look to your right for the parking lot that leads to the Wincopin trailheads in Savage Park. If you reach the bottom of the hill and begin to climb the other side, you have gone too far and will need to turn around.
To the letterbox. Park in the lot. Notice an informative board with, among other things, a map of the trail system in this part of the park. You will be starting out on the red-blazed Wincopin trail, and then traveling the length of the green-blazed Quarry Run Trail, which loops you back to your starting point.
Head into the woods, on a paved trail that quickly turns into a dirt footpath. Follow the trail past one left junction with the green trail, then at about .4 mile, go left at the second green trail junction. Note that if you go to the right at this junction, you will head in the direction of our Hog's Neck Boxes series.
Soon on your right you can visit a pretty overlook across the Middle Patuxent River. Now you will walk along a ledge, gradually descending to the river below.
When you come to the river’s edge at about .8 miles, you’ll make a left turn and walk downstream.
In another half mile (1.3 miles total) you will come to the concrete abutment of the "Gabbro Bridge," an old railroad bridge. The bridge that used to stand here was the twin of the still-existing Pratt Bridge that you can visit in our Little Patuxent River Box #2. It was here that the Patuxent Branch railroad crossed the confluence of the rivers, making its way into Savage, then joining up with the main B&O tracks on the other side of Route 1. This branch railroad once carried granite from the quarry in Guilford, several miles upstream on the Little Patuxent side. You can visit the quarry site; today it is a scenic “pond” next to an office building on Guilford Road. Explore the ruins if you’d like—the bridge was washed out in the flooding that accompanied Hurricane Agnes in 1972.
The confluence of the Middle and Little Patuxent Rivers is just a few yards downstream from this abutment!
The green trail makes a left turn here at a short wooden post, so turn left and walk to the first green blaze on a beech tree to your right. Look at the trail ahead of you. There are some old downed logs on a hill to your left, and if you have a sharp eye, you can spy a blue-blaze on a tree at the crest of this hill.
Walk ahead on the trail 36 steps and you will be next to a large tree on the left that bends ever so slightly towards the trail. Now take 27 more steps ahead. You will see an old thin, broken log headed up the hill. Walk up the hill with this log on your left. It is about 25 steps to the top. You are now standing on the blue trail. At 270 degrees is another broken log headed up another hill.
Walk up this hill, about 15 steps, with the log on your right. Ahead of you in the near distance is the confluence. Behind the log on the north side, and on the downhill end (not the end at the top of the hill), the letterbox is tucked away behind many leaves. The log is a good place to sit and stamp in while you enjoy the gurgling confluence.
To return to your vehicle, scramble back down to the green trail, which now is tracing the old railroad tracks of the Patuxent Branch. Just like when you sought the Little Patuxent River box, if you keep a sharp eye out, you’ll be able to spot blocks of granite along the path that fell off the flatbed rail cars during their journey. To your right is the Little Patuxent River. At 1.7 miles you will see some strange building ruins to your left, which probably belonged to another rock quarry.
At 1.9 miles, the green trail makes a sharp left and begins to climb back up to the ridge. The trail is steep for about 150 yards, then levels out again. At 2.1 miles the green trail ends at the red trail. Turn right here to get back to the parking lot, or head to the left and go after the Hog's Neck Boxes.
We hope you enjoy the Patuxent Confluence letterbox and your scenic walk through the peninsula to the place where the rivers join!