Latest installment on my discovery of the Patapsco Valley State Park. A 4 mile round-trip hike to the base of the dam, and a path that went up and around up to the top of the dam which was kind of interesting b/c later I drove around to the road entrance but the gate was locked* Snuck in the back way. Pretty cool from the base, wondering if the ledges had a purpose or was someone just having fun with the design Looks kind of art deco. Looked like a bevy of swans out on the reservoir, pretty far out, hard to tell. Maybe snow geese? They were pretty big. Sense of adventure fulfilled for another day, grate to have discovered a place far from the madding crowd that's onliy 20 minutes away. Got a couple more hikes picked out. *One of those you can visit it but we're not really interested in letting you visit. I suppose you could poison Baltimore's drinking water hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. PS A MD birding website suggests they are Tundra swans.and they show up in December. (and I head back north when it gets warmer like now) still ice on the reservoir though. ** Edited by `lag at 3/5/2026, 9:18:35 PM