Seneca Creek State Park

Maryland has so many parks and one of our goals is to see as many of them as we can. Seneca Creek State Park is smack in the middle of Gaithersburg but you'd never know it.  It is a huge park with an enormous lake (Lake Clopper) in the middle.  As far as parks go, it has all the usual things.....picnic areas, boat rentals, fishing, hunting (during season) and trails for hiking and mountain biking, but there are a couple things I'd like to point out to families in particular.

First of all, most of the parks that we have been to charge a flat rate per vehicle to get into the park, usually about $5. This park charges $3/person and $5/person if you are from out of the state. There were seven of us in the car so it cost us $21 to get into the park. Might I also add that the park was almost completely empty when we went, on a Saturday afternoon with perfect weather. I can't help but wonder if that was why.

If you are having a party or a company picnic, renting a pavilion in the park is a great idea, but if you are a family out for an afternoon picnic complete with barbecuing and playing ball in the grass, this may not be the place for you. All of the picnic tables with grills are mixed into the crowded trees and dirt patches. There is a playground at the front of the park that's walking distance from the picnic area but there is nowhere to play around the picnic area in the back of the park. There are no picnic tables close to the beautiful lake and this is mind-boggling to me. So, what we ended up doing is using a picnic table and grill in the trees for lunch, but then quickly packed up and headed out to the grassy areas by the lake to spend the rest of the afternoon. The kids took their shoes off and put their feet in the lake while trying to catch minnows (who knew this could occupy them for hours?!), the dads played bocce ball in the grass, and the moms relaxed and watched the fun.

So, if you don't mind paying a little extra for your peaceful afternoon and you're not planning on grilling your meal, I suggest you pack a basket filled with ready-made food, pitch a blanket on the grass by the lake, lay back and enjoy the sunshine!

By the way, this park is a trash free park, which means there are no garbage cans so please be sure to bring something to take your trash home with you. It's a beautiful park so let's all do our part for the environment.

Kids View: "The playground was cool because it was big and made from tires and recycled stuff. The best part was trying to catch the minnows in the lake....but then we saw a snake by the edge of the water and that was really scary."

Seneca Creek State Park:  http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/central/seneca.asp