CONSERVATION TRAIL

Current Trail Event Information may be found at our:

Events Calendar page  

and in the Committee Activities & News section of our

Forum

Use this link to obtain a printable Trail Map ('pdf' file) that highlights points of interest that you will encounter as you enjoy your walk.

The Windsor Hills Conservation Trail is maintained by Windsor Hills as a wilderness area and is an ideal site for hiking and birding. (Over 135 species of birds have been identified in the Gwynns Falls/Leakin Park valley.) Within minutes of starting your walk you find yourself in a quiet wooded area virtually removed from the sounds of the city.

The upper trailhead is at the edge of the Windsor Hills residential area -- look for the Conservation Trail sign at the intersection of Fairfax Road and Clifton Road where Clifton curves away from Westchester Road. About a quarter of a mile in, the trail forks at a gully. Crossing the gully, the upper woodland trail follows an original Streetcar track bed and takes you though a quiet forest to a rock wall where the tracks crossed the Gwynns Falls stream on a bridge long ago removed. The rock wall is part of the remaining bridge abutment and a corresponding abutment is clearly visible on the opposite side of the stream.

A climb up these rocks gives a spectacular overview of the stream valley below. A scramble down these rocks, continues the trail down stream to the lower trailhead at Windsor Mill Road. You will pass through a meadow, by an old ruin, and notice the water changing from small rapids to quiet pools, with plenty of opportunities to clamber out on rocks. If instead of crossing the gully, you go down it, you will be following an old quarry trail that loops back for a shorter circle trail of just over one-half mile (see trail map). The long route is slightly less than a mile one way.

The Windsor Hills Conservation Trail is one of several Access Trails to the Gwynns Falls Trail that, when finished, will run from the the I-70 Park and Ride [adjacent to Gwynns Falls/Leakin Parks] and will terminate at Baltimore's Inner Harbor. The first seven miles of the planned 15 mile trail are now open.

The Gwynns Falls Tail will link more than 30 neighborhoods and provide access to new and existing recreational and cultural sites and over 2000 acres of parkland. The Gwynns Falls Trail is part of National Park Service Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network and the East Coast Greenway. A larger map showing the entire Gwynns Falls Trail, including the Access Trails, is available at the Gwynns Falls Trail website -- front and back -- Note: these are '.pdf' files and may take a short time to load.

See the Trail Map & Guide to Windsor hills Conservation Trail

These photographs by Howard Griner were taken between locations #1 and #4 on the Trail Map & Guide.