Mark’s Score 8.4
This property is on the western edge of Berlin. You drive through a residential area, round a bend and the park is immediately on the left. But you have to keep a sharp eye, because you can easily pass the parking area. If you are driving from the west you pass through lovely farmland of corn and soybeans. On the day I visited, it was a beautifully bright and cool autumn day, so a perfect day for a hike.
The Libertytown Branch Trails are located on land formerly used for a golf course and a farm. There are 12 miles (19k) of trails on 715 acres (289 hectares). Since 2023 it has been owned by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and is managed by the DNR in conjunction with the Lower Shore Land Trust. The property highlights an interesting experiment seeking to convert developed land back to a natural state of meadows, woodland, and wetland habitats. The land is now preserved for the purposes of ecological restoration, wildlife conservation, and public recreation.
We had been having heavy rains all month, and the parking lot is made of crushed stone which, when saturated with water, can act like mud. I nearly got my car stuck in the center of the parking lot. However, I did manage to drive through the mud to higher ground. This is a project still very much a work-in-progress. There are many trails winding through woodlands, marshes and fields, but there are also many construction sites, which proved as wet and soggy as the parking lot. When walking here, you would be well advised to look at what will be, rather than what it is today.
But having said that, impressive progress has been made since the park was first established in 2023. The Lower Shore Land Trust’s mission is to convert this land back to a natural state full of native flora. With that in mind, while walking the trails I lowered my gaze from a general overview to close up investigation of ground plants. The trail head starts at the southern end of the parking lot and you follow a long straight dirt road that has several trails branching off of it. But these are not well-worn established trails, for the most part they could be better described as rough and ready suggestions of trails to come.
But the work-in-progress feel of the place does not detract from its beauty, and because it is a restoration project, I paid special attention the native plants. On my short 90-minute walk I found baby’s breath, a field of black-eyed susan, several wild rose bushes, dog fennel, and eastern baccharis. Because this land was once developed there are also several manmade ponds and drainage ditches
This site is hauntingly beautiful with a variety of habitats with a wide variety of native flora. It is a little rough and ready now, but give it a few years and it should be one of the best hiking spots in the area.
What else is there to do in Berlin?
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