Patapsco Valley State Park Deep Run Area
Managed by Maryland Park Service
95 acres0.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Scott218 · CC BY-SA 4.0B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Arbutus
Arbutus has 102 acres of parks, 4.5 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Patapsco Valley State Park Deep Run Area (0.9 mi). 84% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 3.6 miles of mapped trail cross Arbutus, 0.6 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 54% of U.S. towns · #186 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
134 acres · of 6.5 sq mi of land
Trails
3.6 mi
0.6 per sq mi of land
Park land
102 ac
4.5 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
84%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.9 mi
3.9 mi lanes
Lakes & rivers
1
What kind of outdoors town is Arbutus?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Arbutus have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Arbutus is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns, #186 of 261 in Maryland. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Arbutus’ overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical MD town 9% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.6 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (4 mi) · MD 0.5 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land4.5 acres of park per 1,000 residents (102 acres) · MD 9 · U.S. 13CParks close to home84% of residents within a half mile of a park · MD 87% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 54%
LessMore
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 29%
Maryland towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 9%; the U.S., 4%), so Arbutus’ 3% is ahead of 15% of Maryland towns, while its trails per square mile lead 52% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to B+. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Patapsco Valley State Park Deep Run Area, with 0.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Patapsco Valley State Park Glen Artney Area
Managed by Maryland Park Service
20 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Maiden Choice Park
Park
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 7 parks & preserves
Patapsco Valley State Park Deep Run Area95 acres · 0.9 mi of trail · Maryland Park Service
DirectionsPatapsco Valley State Park Glen Artney Area20 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Maryland Park Service
DirectionsMaiden Choice Park6 acres
Arbour Manor Park5 acres
DirectionsPatapsco Valley State Park Halethorpe Ponds Area3 acres · Maryland Park Service
Halethorpe Community Center & Park3 acres · Baltimore County Department of Recreation & Parks
DirectionsWillow Grove Park3 acres
Who protects it
134 conserved acres
3% of Arbutus’ land. Who manages Arbutus’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County73 ac
State natural resources2 ac
Not recorded61 ac
Local Park · 86 acLocal Other or Unknown · 37 acState Park · 6 acConservation Easement · 3 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 2 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 3 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 8 of 16 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arbutus Memorial Park Local Park | County | 59 | Open |
| Local Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 33 | Unknown |
| Huntsmoor Park Local Park | Not recorded | 14 | Unknown |
| Drainage And Utility Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 7 | Unknown |
| Unknown Park Local Park | County | 7 | Open |
| Patapsco Valley Sp State Park | Not recorded | 6 | Unknown |
| Shelbourne Park Local Park | County | 3 | Open |
| Willow Grove Park Local Park | Not recorded | 3 | Unknown |
| Maiden Choice Park Local Park | County | 1 | Open |
Things to do
14 places to go in Arbutus
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Arbutus
Halethorpe Community Center & Park PlaygroundIn Halethorpe Community Center & Park
DirectionsPlus 13 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
3 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 0.6 miUnpaved · 2.0 mi
Mineral Pass0.3 mi
LivGray Lower Connector0.2 mi
Mineral Drop0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
3.9 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.9 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
Courts & fields
17Baseball
8Basketball
5Tennis
1Multi-sport
1Pickleball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register, one a National Historic Landmark
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Arbutus: April to June
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.9 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 43 | 47 | 55 | 67 | 76 | 84 | 89 | 87 | 80 | 68 | 57 | 48 |
| Rain (in) | 3.1 | 2.8 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.1 | 3.3 | 3.7 |
February is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 4.5 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Arbutus →
Next door
Arbutus and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arbutus | 3% | 0.6 | 5 | 84% | B− |
| Catonsville | 3% | 3.8 | 7 | 77% | B+ |
| Elkridge | 6% | under 0.1 | 5 | 88% | C+ |
| Lansdowne | 8% | 2.9 | 16 | 99%+ | A |
| Baltimore | 9% | 1.1 | 10 | 98% | A− |
| Ilchester | 19% | 3.3 | 18 | 87% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Arbutus
Where can I hike in Arbutus?
The longest trail networks: Patapsco Valley State Park Deep Run Area, 0.9 miles; Patapsco Valley State Park Glen Artney Area, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Arbutus is conserved land?
3% of its land, against a typical 9% for a Maryland town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Arbutus’ trails?
Patapsco Valley State Park Deep Run Area and Patapsco Valley State Park Glen Artney Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Arbutus?
3.9 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.9 of painted or protected lanes.
Is there public land near Arbutus?
17,223 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Arbutus or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 102 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Arbutus have?
Ahead of 54% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #186 of 261 in Maryland. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Arbutus neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →