Rockburn Branch Park
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Size: 450 acres
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Habitat: Varied. Fall Line location. Upland
deciduous woods, scrub, field and edge, floodplain woods
along stream, mixed deciduous and pine on the
uplands.
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Best Months: April and May; late August to
mid-October.
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Coverage Time: At the peak of spring and
fall migration, one can easily spend more than a half day
exploring this park. Even in winter or when walking for
exercise, it would take two to three hours to cover most
of the trails.
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Trails/Paths: East Area -
Crowsfoot Trail is 2.1 miles and the Old Landing Road
Trail is .47 miles.
West Area - Clover Hill Trails are 3.0
miles with some extensions into the East Area. Trails are
a combination of packed earth, crushed gravel, asphalt,
and mown grass.
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Notable Birds: Ring-necked Pheasant, Wild
Turkey, Northern Bobwhite, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron,
Peregrine Falcon, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Yellow- bellied
Flycatcher, Philadelphia Vireo, Sedge Wren, Gray-cheeked
Thrush, Golden-winged Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler,
Prothonotary Warbler, Connecticut Warbler, Summer
Tanager, Henslow's Sparrow, Nelson's Sharp-tailed
Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow.
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Amenities: Restrooms in brick building
adjacent to Landing Road office (East Area) open
all year; portable toilets all year at several locations
near pavilion and sports fields. Tot lot, tennis courts,
basketball courts, picnic pavilion, a few scattered
picnic tables, lighted and regular multi-purpose and
baseball/softball fields; county's only disc golf
course.
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Handicapped Access: West Area -
There is a short paved path heading west downhill (the
entrance is adjacent to the parking lot near the Clover
Hill mansion). Along the front of the mansion and
extending north there is a wide crushed gravel road. Both
paths contain gentle grades.
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Operation and Hours: Howard County park;
7:00 a.m. to dusk or as posted (when there are games on
lighted fields, the East Area may be open as late
as 11:00 p.m.).
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Special Attractions: Several historic
buildings in the West Area are a feature of this
park. The Clover Hill mansion dating to the early 1800s,
the Pfeiffer's Corner School, the Doyle farmhouse and
springhouse, and the cabin are all in the West
Area, several are within a few hundred yards of the
first parking lot.
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Compiler: Joanne Solem
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