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Adventure Begins at the Bay's Front Door
Baltimore Visitor Center and Gwynns Falls Trail
Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network
It's amazing how much has happened here since Captain John Smith traveled up the Patapsco while exploring the Chesapeake Bay in 1608. Since its founding in 1729, Baltimore has been the scene of some of American history's great moments, among them the creation of The Star-Spangled Banner during the War of 1812 and the first bloodshed of the Civil War.
Start your adventure at the Baltimore Visitor Center---you gateway to all that Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay region have to offer. At the Visitor Center, you'll learn more about the major attractions around Baltimore's Inner Harbor and the shores of the Patapsco River, most of which can be reached easily and quickly by foot or a short water taxi ride. You'll also discover neighborhoods and trails that will lead you to Baltimore's gems beyond the water's edge. Whether you're interested in sailing ships, screwpile lighthouses, or a bike ride along the Gwynns Falls Trail, Baltimore's sure to be more than you imagine.
Along the Trail is this iron wheel used 150 years ago to pump water uphill to Thomas deKay Winans' Crimea estate, near Leaking Park.
Trail bikers as well as hikers enjoy views of the Gwynns Falls stream valley as seen near bridge crossings.
A bird's eye view of Baltimore City and the basin (today's Inner Harbor) by Alexander Hay Ritchie for Lloyd's Steamboat and Railroad Guide, 1859.
Baltimore's Greenway to the Chesapeake Bay:
Hike, bike, run, walk, skate, fish, boat or picnic -- just explore the 15-mile Gwynns Falls Trail. See an old millrace pathway, a carriage driveway, Colonial and 19th century mansions and estates, ruins of old mills, a mock fort, a waterwheel, the oldest continuously used railroad bridge in the United States, and much more.
This unique greenway passes through more than 30 neighborhoods where you will experience one of the largest urban wilderness parks remaining on the East Coast -- Gwynns Falls/Leakin Park…with over 2000 acres of stream valley parkland.
Chesapeake Connection:
As a major tributary to the Patapsco River and part of the larger watershed of the Chesapeake Bay, Gwynns Falls shares much of the region's history where water created economic opportunity. The rushing waters of Gwynns Falls powered grain mills that made Baltimore as early commercial success. |