Civic Center Croyden Creek Loop is a 2.3 mile moderately trafficked loop trail located near Rockville, Maryland that offers the chance to see wildlife and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail.
dog friendly
kid friendly
birding
hiking
nature trips
trail running
walking
forest
views
wildlife
Near the start of the hike is an overlook which is very nice. Wildlife is abundant including many species of birds. Cross over the bridge on the right and follow the signs to the Woodland Trail which makes a loop. Then continue on the Heritage Trail crossing over a couple of bridges and back to the nature center. Great hike with kids and visit the nature center. Also the mansion grounds are nice.
Returned to do this course I visited a few days ago, now by hiking. In finding the trail, I discovered a better parking location for starting out. It is past the tennis courts at the Croydon Creek Nature Center, 852 Avery Rd, Rockville, MD 20851.
The trail is about 95% single track, and my goal was to finish the hike at 3.5 mph average speed or better. It is a good idea to do a one-time practice walk through if you are planning to trail run, because this is a multi-loop course that has numerous branching paths and trails that can easily divert you from the main trail. This was a hike for me, so going off course was not a big deal so long as I maintained my average hiking speed. However, making off-course branching mistakes extended my distance and time in hiking. I did some practice running at target pace for about 3/4 mile to gauge the terrain, and to maintain my average hiking pace at 3.5 mph -- which was slipping down a bit due to picture taking and going off course.
This a nice, easy hike with a few rocky points. I took plenty of pics; view them to observe course terrain. Also look at my recorded track to see confusing branch points that caused me to do one of the loops twice. Beware of unmarked branch points. This is a solid 4-5 star trail.
The coordinates to the parking lot for this trail are: 39.086136, -77.130365. The navigation directions posted by AllTrails.com are way off. Copy/Paste the coordinates above to get to the parking lot. You will have to navigate to the actual trail from there. This is a neat park, but it was about to close when I arrive. I trekked about 1/2 mile (10 minute walk). Basically, I circled the Glenview Mansion Garden and then returned to my vehicle. I plan to return to finish.
K T.
Nice, suburban park area, with a fun nature center.