Patapsco Valley State Park Deep Run Area
Managed by Maryland Park Service
265 acres
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Scott Saghirian · CC BY 2.0C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Elkridge
6% of Elkridge’s land is conserved: 324 acres
88% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.2 miles of mapped trail cross Elkridge. 129 acres are parks and preserves, 4.9 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 42% of U.S. towns · #223 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Conserved land
6%
324 acres · of 8.4 sq mi of land
Trails
0.2 mi
0.0 per sq mi of land
Park land
129 ac
4.9 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
88%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
2.7 mi
1.9 mi lanes
Highest peak
266 ft
Lawyers Hill
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Elkridge?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Elkridge have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Elkridge is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns, #223 of 261 in Maryland. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; trail miles pull it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Elkridge’s overall grade.
Conserved land6% of the land · typical MD town 9% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.0 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · MD 0.5 · U.S. 0.4C−Park land4.9 acres of park per 1,000 residents (129 acres) · MD 9 · U.S. 13CParks close to home88% 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 42%
LessMore
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 15%
Maryland towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 9%; the U.S., 4%), so Elkridge’s 6% is ahead of 33% of Maryland towns, while its trails per square mile lead 6% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C 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
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Troy Park at Elkridge
Park
102 acres0.1 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Harwood Park
Park
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
324 conserved acres
6% of Elkridge’s land. Who manages Elkridge’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County348 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government72 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits21 ac
State natural resources20 ac
Joint15 ac
Other state land8 ac
State parks1 ac
Conservation Easement · 279 acForest Stewardship Easement · 175 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 49 acLocal Other or Unknown · 22 acUnknown Easement · 17 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 250 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 105 of 214 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hoa Private Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 43 | Unknown |
| Patapsco Valley Sp State Park | Not recorded | 10 | Unknown |
| County Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 10 | Unknown |
| Open Space Private Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 9 | Unknown |
| Open Space To Be Recorded Local Other or Unknown | Other or Unknown Local Government | 9 | Open |
| Harwood Park Local Park | Not recorded | 1 | Unknown |
Things to do
18 places to go in Elkridge
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Elkridge
12 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Elkridge
5 dog parks without a name on the map.
Peaks in Elkridge
Lawyers Hill266 ft elevation
DirectionsTrails & water
2 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
2.7 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.9 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
0.7 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
4Basketball
4Baseball
3Multi-sport
1Tennis
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →4 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Elkridge: 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 | 46 | 55 | 67 | 76 | 84 | 88 | 86 | 80 | 68 | 57 | 47 |
| Rain (in) | 3.1 | 2.8 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 4.1 | 3.3 | 3.8 |
February is the driest month (2.8 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 4.5 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Elkridge →
Next door
Elkridge and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
Questions about parks and trails in Elkridge
Where can I hike in Elkridge?
The longest trail networks: Troy Park at Elkridge, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Elkridge is conserved land?
6% 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 Elkridge’s trails?
Patapsco Valley State Park Deep Run Area and Troy Park at Elkridge don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Elkridge?
2.7 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.9 of painted or protected lanes and 0.7 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Elkridge?
20,736 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Elkridge or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 129 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Elkridge have?
Ahead of 42% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #223 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 Elkridge 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 →