A Day of Adventure at Rocks State Park in MD

We visited aptly named Rocks State Park in Harford County, MD on a cold and bright November day this fall.  It took us about an hour to get there and we visited 3 areas of the park, which took us the better part of the day.

Wilson’s Picnic Area

We went to the Wilson picnic area first – there is a small playground, a riverbank, picnic tables, port a potties, and plenty of parking. There did not appear to be any trailheads here.  For us, this was not a must-see area, but the kids spent some time on the playground while I fielded a phone call from work.

Rock Ridge Picnic Area

A few minutes drive led us to the Rock Ridge Picnic Area lot, where again there was plenty of parking. But, according to the signs and website, this and the Falling Branch areas get crowded during the summer. On weekends and holidays between Labor and Memorial Day, you have to make a reservation. On this cold November day, there were very few other people there.

From the parking lot we walked the very short trail out to the “King and Queen Seat,” which was really cool but a bit terrifying with small children and the dog. It is imperative to keep a tight hold of them, as the massive rock piles are great fun to climb but are actually an outcropping of a very high cliff whose precipice has led to death and injury, as proclaimed by a sign in front.  The kids had a good time climbing, but we did not allow them to go as far as the actual outcropping for fear of said injury and death.  The dog also cried piteously while I was exploring the outcropping, likely using his doggysense to understand the risk created by my natural clumsiness.  Although not one to be fearful of heights, I could not bring myself to go all the way to the edge, and kept seated a good way back in the center of the rock pile. The view was beautiful, of course, although most of the fall foliage has already dropped.

Falling Branch Area

From here, we drove to a different, unattached part of the park (a few miles north) in order to see Kilgore Falls.  The children enjoyed this even more, and it was very lovely.  The path is just a little longer – still only about a half mile which is great for us since our youngest wants to be held at least 50% of the time, typically.

You can see the falls as soon as you reach the river, but in order to get close to the base of them, you have to scramble just a little over some slippery and muddy places, including crossing the river on wet rocks.  It was no problem for us or the kids, but we did have to carry the baby. 

Once there, there were lots more rocks to climb to get different views of the falls (not huge falls, but still lovely), and the kids also enjoyed sending leaves down the miniature river rapids.  The dog also enjoyed the walk and snuffling around the cliffs, where there were ample mini caves in which to hibernate, though we didn’t actually see any creatures.  All in all, it was a pleasant day and well worth the 1 hour drive to get there.