Lake Elkhorn, Columbia MD

One of the best parts about living in Howard County is its park system. Lake Elkhorn is beautiful and has a nicely maintained paved trail surrounding it which is readily utilized by walkers, runners, bikers, and dog walkers. There are a couple of dog bag pickup stations around the park which is nice and handy if you've forgotten a bag or unexpectedly require one. Today was the first weekend day I've gone, and it was quite busy with all kinds of activity. There were a few families fishing and one little guy was very excited as he caught his first fish, a sunny, and the boys squeals of delight could be heard all over the park. There is a lot of wildlife around, and we saw groups of turtles sunning themselves on logs, lots of ducks, an egret, and bunches of geese. Luckily this time the waterfowl kept their distance. I like watching them from afar, but upclose honestly they kinda freak me out. They've got weird beedy eyes, and I've seen enough videos on America's Funniest to know that geese can be real a-holes. During my last visit a very exotic looking one, kept waiting for me to turn my back, and then would rapidly advance in a not-so-cool sneak attack type fashion. The only downside about the park, is that in an area with so much traffic and heavy utilization by the community, there is a lot of litter floating in the water near the boat slip which is kind of a bummer and a little depressing. Nothing sucks more than seeing a couple of woodhens kicking through a sheet of plastic trying to catch up with the rest of the ducks. I'm looking into local groups to see if there are any community based area-cleanups scheduled that maybe I could help out with. Parking was a bit of a disaster in the small lot off Broken Land Parkway, so I parked across the street at a business complex. A lot of other people seemed to have the same idea and, since its a weekend, I figured it was probably okay. I'm excited to explore some of the trails in the other direction next time I go, and I'll be sure to report back about what they're like. Moving has been kind of sucky, but on the up-side I'm getting to explore lots of places that I may not have been able to check-out otherwise, and wearing Zoey out as we go exploring is always a bonus. Lake Elkhorn is definitely worth checking out, there are a couple of gazebo-type dealies which provide shade and nice views at various points around the lake and would be quite nice for a picnic lunch. They have one of those sorta bizarre-o fitness courses with different exercises listed at each apparatus, which could be fun (and maybe a little germy) if that kind of stuff is your thing. There are lots of benches around for pitstops, and I imagine that as the weather cools off, they would be great for reading or busting out a crossword puzzle. There is a water source near the Pavillion that I noticed today, so maybe just bring a bottle for a fill-up. A family near the dam, had a couple of big bowls of water out for dogs with a funny little sign, the last time I was there but this time they weren't out, so best not to plan on that. All in all it's a nice near-two mile walk which you can make as quick or as leisurely as you like.