The Patapsco Valley State Park entrance closest to Ellicott City is also the one most likely to turn you away. According to park manager Rob Dyke, the Avalon area hits capacity and closes temporarily just about every weekend, as The Baltimore Banner reported in August 2026. Park officials have responded with a plan to pull visitors north, to a part of the park most people from town have never set foot in.
Some of that plan exists today and some of it is years from finished. If you plan your fall weekends around the parts that are already built, you'll spend less time idling at a closed gate on Route 1.
Patapsco Never Went Back to Its Pre-Pandemic Crowds
The Banner put numbers to it. The park now draws roughly 1.5 million to 2 million visitors a year across its 32 miles of the Patapsco River. Before the pandemic, the count was about 1 million. Six years after the lockdowns, the surge has not tapered off. Dyke's summary in the Banner was short: "People found us and didn't forget about us."
About 70% of the park's budget comes from visitor revenue, so the same weekend traffic that closes Avalon also pays for the trails. That explains why the park is trying to spread people out rather than turn them away. DNR's own guidance warns that busy weekends can bring capacity closures at Avalon, Hollofield and Daniels, and it tells visitors to arrive early. When an area fills, DNR suggests trying another of the park's six scenic areas, but it doesn't say which one.
The Woodstock plan is the closest thing to an answer.
The Area the Park Wants You to Find
Woodstock is one of the least-used parts of the park. "You can be out there and only encounter a dozen other people," Jim Miller, the Woodstock trail captain for the Friends of Patapsco Valley State Park, told the Banner. The new trails will pass a granite quarry that supplied slabs for the Washington Monument, a filming location from the 1999 horror film "The Blair Witch Project," and a stone bridge built by Jesuit priests. Assistant park manager Joe Vogelpohl also pointed to old ruins, overlooks and rock formations.
Woodstock stays quiet for a plain reason: it has no dedicated parking. Aside from a few informal access points used mostly by mountain bikers, there is no real way in. The Friends group says new access points, parking and trail infrastructure are central to the project.
The fix is a pedestrian bridge across the North Branch of the Patapsco, connecting Woodstock to the parking lots at McKeldin. The project was set to open to bids in mid-August, and officials hoped to award a construction contract before the end of the year. Neither the park nor the Friends group has set a completion date.
Once the bridge is built, McKeldin's lots will serve as the main way into Woodstock, and until then McKeldin is the part of the plan already open to walk.
What Exists, What's Funded, What's Hoped For
| Piece of the plan | Status as of October 2026 |
|---|---|
| McKeldin adaptive trail network, about 5 miles | Completed in 2024 and open |
| Woodstock adaptive trails, about 5 more miles | Funded and in progress, no completion date |
| North Branch pedestrian bridge, Woodstock to McKeldin parking | Set to open to bids in August, contract award hoped for by year-end |
| Trilingual trail signage in English, Spanish and Korean | Planned |
| Nearly 100 acres of Bon Secours land joining the park | An aspiration, with no transfer scheduled |
The money is further along than the construction. The Friends group reports raising more than $500,000 for trail building and expects the trail work to cost less than $700,000, not counting the bridge. The Banner put the total of grants and donations secured for Woodstock at $650,000.
McKeldin Is the Part You Can Walk This Weekend
Patapsco already has the first adaptive trail system in Maryland, and it's at McKeldin. Friends executive director Dave Ferraro explained to the Banner that adaptive trails are built wider and smoother. That makes them popular with people on adaptive bikes and handcycles, with equestrians, and with "intergenerational hikers" who want to walk side by side. If you've ever tried walking two abreast with a grandparent on a narrow, rooty riverbank trail, you'll see why that matters. The Friends group also describes improved signage and accessible trailheads.
DNR's McKeldin trail guide lists the area's named routes and where each one starts:
- Rapids Trail, 0.7 mile, from its southern end or the Switchback Trail
- Switchback Trail, 4 miles, from the contact station near the park entrance
- Plantation Trail, 1.4 miles, from the basketball courts or horse-trailer parking
- Tall Poplar Trail, 1.4 miles, from Shelter 576 or across from the basketball courts
- Medicine Tree Trail, 0.3 mile, from the youth-group camping parking
- Spring Glen Trail, 0.7 mile, from opposite the entrance contact station
That list covers McKeldin's general trail system. DNR doesn't label it as the full adaptive network, so if you specifically need the wider adaptive surface, check with the park before you go.
McKeldin's other advantage is location. It's the area the future bridge will connect to, so learning its lots and trailheads now means you'll already know the way in once Woodstock opens up.
The Land Next Door Is Already Off the Market
North of Woodstock, the park's edge got a little more secure this summer. In July 2026, the Howard County Conservancy paid the Sisters of Bon Secours USA $1.3 million for a permanent conservation easement on 32 acres of their roughly 310-acre property near Marriottsville, as reported by the Banner. The sisters still own the land but have agreed to limit development on it. The easement protects the forested portion, which Conservancy executive director Meg Boyd described as trees at least 100 years old.
It's the fourth easement deal completed during County Executive Calvin Ball's term, totaling 112 acres. One of the others was 8 acres at North St. Johns Swim and Tennis Club in Ellicott City.
The bigger idea is still only a hope. The sisters would like nearly 100 acres to eventually become part of the park's Woodstock area, which borders their property. No transfer has been announced.
Planning a Fall Visit Around the Gate
Two pieces of practical information change the math for the rest of the season.
The first is DNR's real-time status dashboard. Each area of the park shows green for open, yellow for an advisory, or red for closed. DNR's August 2026 newsletter said every closure and reopening is posted there as it happens, and it recommended checking before you leave the house. On its most recent check, the dashboard showed the main areas open but listed the Hollofield campground as closed for the 2026 season for maintenance.
The second is the fee calendar. Under DNR's current schedule, admission from April through October is $2 per vehicle on weekdays for Maryland residents and $4 for nonresidents. On weekends and holidays it's $3 per person for residents and $5 for nonresidents. From November through March, every day is back to $2 or $4 per vehicle. Under that schedule, a resident family of four pays $12 to get in on an October Saturday and $2 on the first Saturday in November. Pickall follows separate rules. Fees can change, so check the DNR page before you go.
Patapsco does not require the advance day-use reservations that DNR now uses at some other state parks.
On the October Calendar
- October 12, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. DNR's Advanced Outdoors: Land Navigation at McKeldin, for adults who have completed the introductory program.
- October 16, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Teen Rangers at Avalon's Shelter 105, for ages 14 to 18, doing service work on river-dam deconstruction. Signup required.
- October 24. The Patapsco Valley 50K and 25K start at 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. from CCBC Catonsville, with aid stops at Cascade Falls and Lost Lake. If you're hiking those trails that morning, expect runners.
- October 31, 8:30 a.m. A public trail work day at McKeldin hosted by the Friends of Patapsco Valley State Park. The group runs six of these a year, and they often fill up with a waiting list. The same afternoon, the Ellicott City Partnership lists Trick or Treat on Main Street starting at 4 p.m.
The October 31 work day is a hands-on way to join the project. Volunteers build new paths and maintain existing ones on the same McKeldin network that will one day lead across the river into Woodstock.
Living near the park changes how you plan a weekend, and the details matter as much as they do when you're comparing homes. If you're weighing how close you want to be to Patapsco or another favorite trail, William Weeks knows the Ellicott City side of the valley well and can walk you through it. Schedule a Consultation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
