Get Yourself To The Water!

Check Out The New Public Access Opportunities And Speak Up For Continued Improvement

It is easier than it used to be to get to the water in Anne Arundel County. With 500-plus miles of Chesapeake Bay shoreline, bay access is the birthright of everyone in the county. Although the job is not done, spring 2018 has significant improvements.

What's New in Public Water Access in 2018?

Spring is the start of your summer on the bay. This spring, there is lots to look forward to: paddle-in campsites, days at the beach, improved kayak launches and a new public boat ramp.

Get out your camping gear and load your kayaks and canoes. The new paddle-in campsites on the Patuxent Water Trail at Emery Landing and Stocketts Run are set to be upgraded in May with portable toilets and fire rings. Paddle-in camping website: www.aacounty.org/services-and-programs/paddle-in-camping.

Plan your exploration of all the nooks and crannies of the Bodkin Creek by kayak, canoe and standup paddleboard. The improvements to the kayak launch onto the Bodkin from the west side of Downs Park are almost done. Launching onto the Bodkin from Downs from an old waterfront picnic site used to require determination. You had to maneuver a kayak down a hill on a deer path and avoid sucking mud and green briar. No more. That muddy launch is now a wide sandy beach and the hill is an easy gentle slope. The access path is completely paved from the parking lot to the beach. This improved launch opens up an enormous amount of sheltered water for more casual paddling. Downs Park website: www.aacounty.org/departments/recreation-parks/parks/downs.

Plan to explore Church Creek and the South River from Homeport Farm Park. Homeport opened as an unimproved rustic park in 2014 and immediately became popular with kayakers, kayak anglers and birdwatchers. The park closed for improvements last fall but is scheduled to reopen during a ribbon cutting on Wednesday, June 20, at 3:00pm. The old dirt access road now has a hard surface, the access path to the water is blacktop and packed gravel instead of grass and bumpy roots, and a new sandy beach replaced dirt and grass at the kayak and SUP launch. The park also has an ingenious sod-topped parking lot and, most importantly for families, will finally get a portable toilet. Homeport Farm Park website: www.aacounty.org/locations-and-directions/homeport-farm-park.

Pack your swimsuit, beach towel and a picnic, and go swimming at Mayo Beach Park, one of the county's secret public parks. Mayo Beach Park, south of Annapolis, has beautiful sandy beaches, picnic tables, a bathhouse with flush toilets and a rinse-off shower, a shaded playground and a tidal pond for fishing. Mayo Beach Park is open for 20 public open days in 2018, up from zero in 2012. Mayo Beach Park public open days are free and open to the general public. Mayo Beach Park website: www.aacounty.org/services-and-programs/mayo-beach-park-public-open-days.

Get your trailered boat ready to roll south. The public boat ramp at Discovery Village in Shady Side is under active construction. If all goes well, the new public boat ramp will open this summer and provide easy trailered boat access to the West River. Discovery Village website: www.aacounty.org/locations-and-directions/discovery-village.

“Like” the “Public Water Access Committee” Facebook page to keep up with public water access in Anne Arundel County and elsewhere in the region.

Lisa Arrasmith moved to Anne Arundel County from Iowa 27 years ago and fell in love with the water in the middle of her life. She is the lead kayaktivist on the Anne Arundel County Water Trail and the chair of the Public Water Access Committee.