Patuxent Wildlife Research Refuge - Birds, Forests, Wetlands and a Tram

Looking for a weekend day trip with the kids that transports you but you don't have to transport yourself far?Then set the controls for Patuxent Wildlife Research Refuge - just check this sucker on the map - it gobbles a huge amount of acreage.  Whether or not the weather is right get over to this bird paradise soon.  Careful though, the gates close at 4:30 - not cool for the afternoon tourist.

As you may have read in previous entries of mine, I've been chasing the elusive Scarlet Tanager for two years running - might this be my lucky day?

I had both kids in tow and my intention was to walk the grounds (some of the refuge is open, much closed to human intrusion), drop by the best wildlife visitors center (ever) - it makes the one in Rock Creek Park look like a gentleman's study.  They have a great wolf display that my daughter loves and this weekend I was treated to the portion that shows a pack greedily devouring a deer, complete with super ick visuals!

The great news we found out upon arrival was that we were just in time for the 3 p.m. tram ride that takes visitors to portions of the park normally off limits to visitation.  You can be treated to wide array of birds, either on the lake or in the tree canopy.  When I spoke with a naturalist as we waited on the tram I asked about the possibility of spotting my elusive Scarlet Tanager. She gave a wry smile and said, "why we have a trail call Tanager Loop" and she cheerily went on to detail all the places I might see them (my heart was a little green toad of envy!). The Tanager has a bright  orange/reddish plumage, black wings and, outside the Oriole, in my esteem, the most handsome local bird.

The tram ride was honestly a bit disappointing during our time slot in terms of wildlife spotted - sorry, deer at 100 yards don't cut it anymore, but it's been great in the past - lots of beavers, amphibians, birds and various flora.

Post tram ride, we hit the meadowland trails adjacent the visitors center as this has always been the spot for Indigo Buntings, Finches, and other birds that dwell in the canopy but  like the meadow menu.  I was dumbstruck when my quarry passed over head - I was incapable of wielding my camera.  I stood with mouth agape as this good looking bird sailed by....I have to see one stationary to compete and verify this odyssey but I feel blessed just having a fly by....


Established in 1936 by executive order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Patuxent Research Refuge is the Nation's only National Wildlife Refuge established to support wildlife research.
With land surrounding the Patuxent and Little Patuxent Rivers between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, MD, the Refuge has grown from the original 2,670 acres to its present size of 12,841 acres.  Throughout decades of change, Patuxent's mission of conserving and protecting the nation's wildlife and habitat through research and wildlife management techniques has remained virtually unchanged.


Patuxent Research Refuge is one of over 540 refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the world’s largest network of lands and waters dedicated to protecting wildlife and their habitat.


Getting Here - In the heart of the Baltimore - Washington corridor, the National Wildlife Visitor Center is located off of Powder Mill Road, 2 miles east of the Baltimore /Washington Parkway, just south of Laurel, Maryland. map

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I recommend the Tram Tours


Wildlife Conservation Tram Tours
Mid-March through Mid-November
Weekend Schedule: 11:30AM, 1:00PM, 2:00PM & 3:00PMWeekday Schedule: (Summer Only - Late June thru Mid-August)
11:30AM, 1:00PM, 2:30PM

Route 55 - Misty Mountain Hop - Western Virginia

I suppose the fact I live in Maryland and am still in the midst of a love affair with the state of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Western Maryland, means I just don't spend enough time in Virginia. Oh sure, you can find me in Middleburg any given weekend but I always think of this part of Va. as a having a one trick wonder destination - Skyline Drive. Don't get me wrong, but I'd rather have a road less traveled. Besides, hiking Skyline means you're either trying not to run faster than your legs want on the descent, or having to scamper your way back up - a lot of work.

Last weekend, unencumbered by the kids, I loaded the jeep with all the gear I needed and covered a portion of Virginia I now need to visit more often. I had driven to and through this part of the state many times - usually making my way to West Va. Again, my intention was to dive into West Virginia on Route 55 and hit Seneca Rock and Dolly Sods. (look them both up - will cover those sites soon).

I decided to get off of 66 onto 55 somewhere west of Manassas. 55 runs parallel to 66 but has so much more character and different rhythm. What did this mean for my timetable? Diaster - I never made the WV state line but I became so enamoured of the road and the visual treats it didn't matter! That's the real idea about hitting the road in my fashion. I let it guide me. I saw Front Royal as the early tourists would have - all the vintage motels with intact signage made me think of Route 66 as I rolled through town on 55. If you're after that vibe, head out this way!

Next in line was Strasburg - I had never bothered to drive around this town either. My highlight here was finding a vintage hotel sign downtown, which I followed and found the hotel is still running - some 140 years plus. I continued west out of town, the WV border just 18 miles away when I saw a sign indicating a turn for Elizabeth Furnace. The best furnace vestige I've seen yet is in Lanaconing Maryland, so I wanted to see what this one was about. Suddenly I found myself driving into the George Washington National Forest, along a shaded mountain stream, with rocky outcroppings casting late afternoon shadows. This was simply called the Elizabeth Furnace part of the park (never did find the furnace itself). I decided to try the climb up towards the summit of Lookout Mountain - used by the Confederates in the Civil War to monitor Union troop movements. With the sun rapidly going down, I made my way back down the switchback to the waiting Jeep.

Take this road, you'll appreciate the contours of the land, better understand settlement patterns and enjoy the vintage roadside architecture, either as ruins or still hanging on (hotsheet motels will always be around I suppose). You'll see stately manors, horses in the fore, with misty purple green mountains seemingly moving behind them. By deciding to take old Route 55, I cut off any chance of getting into West Virginia that evening but I was able to rediscover one of the the best "road trip" roads that the visitor or resident of Washington can get out and enjoy.

Romantic Ruins, Haunted Site or Birdwatching Paradise? You Decide - but no trespassing!

After poking around the Greenbelt area one recent weekend, I decided to finally visit the legendary Glenn Dale Hospital, located in Glenn Dale Maryland, not far from Greenbelt itself and close to the NASA complex. I alighted out expecting to see something interesting, but what I found floored me. This site is worthy for it's legendary lore in the growing art of "urban archeology", whereby the brave explorers, out of a mixture of curiosity and adrenaline rush, explore abandoned buildings, often trespassing. Being a responsible grown up now, I wasn't in for a tangle with the police and so far I've abstained from actually entering a building.

The grounds are not far from DC, you just have to navigate the uninspiring subdivisions that straddle this piece of land. This is not your average run of the mill urban hospital but rather an entire campus with some grand architecture, now chocked in vines and overgrowth and victimized by vandals.

The extensive damage done by vandals and the fact somebody needs to keep an eye on this site is the reason a park police sub-station is on the grounds. Patrol cars run a regular route through the grounds so I wouldn't considering walking around too much, stick to the perimeter. Plenty can be seen from the road, and it's worth it...

Halloween is apparently the night to go, and I can only say I'm glad I didn't grow up around here, because I would have gone in as a teen. The thing that makes this place so spooky is the network of underground tunnels which connect the various buildings. Apparently there's morgue (makes sense in hospital right?) and creepy stuff below ground. One story has it that it later housed the criminally insane and when the hospital closed and they were released, many returned to live out their lives in the various hospital buildings - a subterranean existence....waiting...

My favorite view has to be the one looking in from the north approach. There's a surprisingly tall water, with a perfect patina, consisting of a mixture of rusted metal and remaining institutional green paint. It's height and colors are unusual in such an rural setting and the proportions pleasing.

Next to the tower stand a large smokestack - long (incorrectly) rumored to be a crematorium. Here, there's a small pull off and ample room to park, stretch your legs and look in at this forbidden city.

One afternoon, I noticed a great variety of tough to see birds not normally spotted (by me anyway) that have found this site offers a great habitat. I saw groups of finches, orioles and what I think was a Scarlet Tanager, but could have been a Red Winged Blackbird in flight.

Directions and history follows.

Glenn Dale Hospital was a tuberculosis sanitarium in Glenn Dale, Maryland in the United States. It is a large facility, consisting of 23 buildings on 216 acres (0.87 km2), that was built in 1934 and closed in 1982 due to asbestos. Though it is now closed and will be eventuallydemolished, for decades it was an important public health institution near Washington, D.C. Park Police patrol the hospital grounds regularly.
The hospital grounds consist of the following buildings:

1. Children's Nurses' Home
2. Children's Hospital Building
3. Residence "D" Dormitory
4. Building "C" Nurses' Home
5. Building "F" Duplex House
6. Building "D" Doctor's House
7. Building "G" Duplex House (Superintendent's Residence)
8. Building "E" Doctor's House
9. Adult Hospital Building
10. Warehouse and Garage
11. Heating Plant
12. Sludge Bed Enclosure
13. Sedimentation and Control Building
14. Water Softener House
15. Pump House
16. Employee Building
17. Laundry
18. Residence "C" Dormitory
19. Hot House
20. Four Apartment Building No. 1
21. Four Apartment Building No. 2
22. Paint Shop
23. Incinerator