The Chesapeake Bay! Turkey Point Lighthouse!

There is no better indication that summer is still here than a sailboat on the bay!

It took two hours, half a tank of gas, $8 in bridge tolls, and a $3 entrance fee to get to Elk Neck from Frederick, Maryland…but the views of the Bay…yes, definitely priceless!!

Elk Neck is located on a peninsula at the top of the Chesapeake Bay. The place where the Susquehanna, North East, Elk, and Bohemia Rivers spill into the Bay. At the southern most part of the park, Turkey Point Lighthouse sits atop the bluffs affording an expansive view of the Bay.

Sidekick Pauli and I started our hike on the White Banks Trail at North East Beach. Dogs are allowed on all the trails and beaches, except for the swimming area. The trail description describes this as a “challenging” trail, but that must be by eastern Maryland standards. 😉

Within 15 minutes, we came to a “T” in the trail. The official trail goes left, but shamelessly, I went right…and oh my!! The beach, a secluded, empty, windy beach! Yippee!

Sidekick Pauli’s first view of the Bay

Driftwood is very, very cool

Sidekick Pauli approached the water with great trepidation. When a wave would roll, then crash, onto the beach, she would jump back startled. These were tiny waves! Oh well, mountains and lakes are more her style. 🙂 🙂

The waves are chasing me!! Maybe I can climb that cliff…

There was a great piece of driftwood for us to sit on and eat our lunch. Total relaxation overtook me sitting there on the sunny beach watching sailboats drift by in the Bay.  Then Sidekick Pauli, having had quite enough of the sand, and the waves, and the wind, whined and pawed me leaving wet sand all over! Time to keep hiking!

Okay, okay…we’re going!

After the stop at the beach we climbed the steepest hill of the entire hike.  I remember it, not for its steepness, but for the woman who we passed as we were going up…a cigarette and whiskey voice with a starlet physique…memorable. 😉

Next stop was White Bank overlook…pretty cool.  Watch your step! It’s a long way down!

White Banks…and a rather abrupt drop off!

Continuing around the park, we took a side trail over to meet up with the Pond Loop.  Acorns and pawpaws were my only obstacles…and I slid twice! Darn acorns!

The pond was more to Sidekick Pauli’s liking, so we took our time around the perimeter.  I love those big, plumed grasses that grow on the eastern shore of Maryland.  The pond’s shore was thick with this grass.

Once we were around the pond, we caught the Farm Trail back to the parking lot.

It’s not a flower, Pauli.

However, we were not done for the day!  The one unfortunate aspect of this park is that it is split into two pieces, with a prestigious bay community inbetween. 😦  Lucky for the residents, not for park visitors!  So if you want to visit the lighthouse…which of course you do…you will need to drive down to the lighthouse trail.  Which we did! Then NO PARKING was available, but the park ranger made a space for me! 🙂 🙂

Turkey Point Lighthouse

Thank you, ranger!
Lovely day at the Bay!

Hike on!