Daniels Area, Patapsco Valley State Park in Ellicott City

Great place to walk the dogs early in the morning.

We basically went to hike but this is actually the highlight of the area.

Came out to this trail several weeks ago and was excited to get to a new trail. On my trailing, I saw what looked to be some type of abandoned mill on the trail. I had taken a shorter trail area and it was a steep uptake to get to the top but not much of an abrupt elevation change from there on. The trail was empty and peaceful.

I loved this place, I saw many people in kayaks and the water is really deep in some places, the parking is extremely limited so we had to park far away.

I had the best time canoeing with my son, grandson and daughter-in-law. What a beautiful place! The staff there were fabulous

Its a beautiful place, unfortunately the parking situation is unnecessarily terrible. We were there on July 4th us among approx. other 50 cars got ticketed. I decided to check it out on the Thursday after July 4th around noon there were 12 people there ALL parked legally, I counted 12+5 of us made 17 total All legally parked but the cops lingered there just chit chatting until they saw me recording...yet an older white lady that pretends to be picking up trash called the police and 3 cars responded I asked her if it was safe for my family to remain there and why the heavy police presence..She got upset and defensive and said that people were jumping from the falls and to "Just make sure that your kids dont kill themselves" she was standing there staring at people just to be clear NO one was diving from the falls. no one was jumping I noticed that it was All Hispanics aside from my husband and our best friend..They are doing they out of hate and rascism pure RASCISM!!!!

There are 4 parking spaces, and a $125 ticket for parking on the shoulders of the road. We went insane and thought we could go hiking on July 4th. Silly us. Cars were everywhere, double-parked and along the shoulders on both sides. There were also multiple park rangers working their way down the line of cars handing out tickets. We decided it wasn’t worth it and left.

I love this place alot for fishing and swimming, but after yesterday Im kind of afraid to swim here again, after about 20 minutes of swimming me and my fiance had gotten out and she seen something on her foot that wouldnt come off, come to find out it was a leech! Be careful yall

It was okay... Besides one person getting blacked out drunk and Some people taking a bath with the water at the parking lot.

The trail is easy and accessible from multiple entries even the parking spaces are limited. The sound of water flowing over the Dam is calming and refreshing. Its peacefully quiet in the winter time. My dog really enjoyed the short trip.

beautiful area but, as many people here realize, suffers from horrible parking. For some reason, parking on the shoulder of the road across from the church is prohibited. People do anyway but there is always a risk of tickets. Its a nonsensical to have an area where people can enjoy but with no place to park.

Great hiking trails and kayaking. Get there early if you need a parking space.

The park has wonderful hiking trail. but very limited parking lot. It is hard to find a parked space most of the time.

One of my favorite spots to drop in kayaks. Pretty tough to find parking and heavily policed. Gorgeous river with scenic views either by kayak or walking. Some popular swimming holes.

The kayak and trail access here is really great. But where this park lacks is parking. Between the upper and lower parking lots, there are probably not 15 total spots to park. When we drove by a few days ago, all spots were taken and people were parking across the front of the parked cars. Cmon! Get more parking here!

Department of Natural Resources (DNRhas become a ticketing agency that limits access to our parks. DNR is a disappointment and has provided 10 spots for parking.

The parking situation is abysmal, they have a total of like 10 public parking spaces between two tiny lots. Theres a area that looks like it was or could be additional parking but its blocked off. You cant park along the sides of the road as they ticket you. The park rangers only patrol to write tickets so dont bother tempting fate like I did. I did the Old Main Line trail and the sights were great and it was very relaxing. Most of the trail is well traveled and is easy to traverse for beginners, there are some spots where it was pretty muddy but there are little detours that others have used pretty regularly so theyre easy to spot out. Oh also, watch for horse droppings in the middle of the trail if you manage to find a freaking parking spot. Overall I would give it a 4 star if not for the lack of parking.

Went to what I believe was called the Hollifield Access and Daniels Access trail. Moderate difficulty- the first part was easy and along the river, then it turned and went steeply uphill. Highly enjoyable bit of hiking.

The Daniels area is my most favorite part of Patapsco State Park! I grew up in the Ellicott City area - though I technically lived in Beaverbrook, a neighborhood that is considered a suburb of Columbia as it is not subject to or part of the Columbia Association as other nearby neighborhoods are. I spent most of my time in Ellicott City - even as a teenager I did not care for most of Columbia other than Lake Kittamaqundi. I first discovered The Trail of The Camel’s Den with a group of friends over 30 years ago. It remains my favorite trail to this day- not only because it is beautiful, but because it is one of the few areas that Patapsco State Park allows dogs. I often walk the trail alone, or with one other person, which I would not feel comfortable doing without my German Shepherd Dog. Even as a teenager with a group of friends some 30 years ago, I always brought along my dog - who also happened to be a German Shepherd. Last week was my 9 month old German Shepherd’s very first visit to the Daniels area and my favorite trail- and also my first visit in years. We had a fantastic time- and went back the following day. We will be visiting frequently this season... until the cicadas invade!! Not sure I’ll brave enough to go then. The thought of giant flying bugs possibly landing in my hair- or flying down my shirt- creeps me out- so I will be going as much as possible (weather permittinguntil they emerge in May. Here is a photo my daughter took of my 9 month old German Shepherd puppy and me in front of Daniel’s Dam 2 days ago. I will add more photos shortly.

The Daniels area is full of interesting scenery & history. There’s a lot to discover including an abandoned dam, ruins of two churches, and three alignments of the Baltimore and Ohio old main line railroad as well as a rail trail along the Patapsco River.

Great little hike

Looking for the lost town?From the parking area cross to the other side of the river and head right down the somewhat paved trail.First you will come across the ruins of the Lutheran church (no ide who told me this was a Luthern church could honestly be anything pro tip: There is an excellent mural of a vintage lady on the back wall.Next: Head a little bit further down the trail and veer off the trail to the left in an upwards direction and you will see the abandoned Catholic church (marked on Google maps), and a few of the antique cars that are scattered throughout the park.Enjoy!

I grew up fishing and hiking here. Sad to hear that its become overcrowded and visited by people who dont respect nature. Actually surprised that tickets are being given out and that people are fighting over parking. Never had that issue over the ten years I frequented the spot/park.

It was pretty. The trails were great and the dam and small pool of water on the bottom was gorgeous. But basically no public parking. And parking on the side of the road everywhere gets you a ticket. If your going here. Just make sure you get there when theres a public spot open.

Great part of the park, with great areas for swimming and wading. Its very busy, presumably any time its warm out from what I saw and what Ive read and there is minimal legal parking. Not quite as dirty as I expected from other reviews, but I did see some trash and discarded swimming stuff. Overall worth the trip, if you can find parking. I got lucky because I got there while it was raining, but as soon as the rain cleared it was completely full again.

Love coming here to hike and swim. Our son loves the water as well. The 4 stars (like most who commentis for the tight parking and the unruly people who trash, grill (there are signs saying NO), camp and bathe in the water. People need to read the rules and follow them. We never ran into arrogant people while hiking or swimming but weve seen the trash, broken bottles, diapers and bathing. Please respect nature and take your trash with you.

This area is beautiful but recently has been trashed big time. Please, please, PLEASE take your trash with you. Its lighter on the way out than it was coming in. When diapers go in the water it becomes contaminated!There are plenty of safe spots to swim in that area as well, the dam itself is dangerous to swim in, please be careful! Have fun, enjoy the beauty, but most importantly take care of your own personal safety! ♥️✌️

The 4 star just to make people aware that when they leave their trash in the park, it diminish the beauty of the place. People should feel responsible for their own trash. Keeping the nature beautiful is everyones responsibility.The park is very peaceful and beautiful except the trash left by visitors.

This is a place for hiking and fishing. It is not safe for swimming especially after heavy rains. Again today ten rescue vehicles were in the park ( which is an area not an official state parkno doubt because of the dam. Hopefully everyone is ok.There are no facilities and bbq is no longer permitted

Nice place, we love going there, but not enough parking spaces, people will get tickets for parking where prohibited and some people on the weekends will do barbeques, even there are signs that say, not to do so, someone needs to watch the area more often

This is a beautiful, peaceful walk along the river. I loved it! You can also see ruins of the Mill town, and washed out cars from hurricane Agnes

Great area to hike. Very scenic along the patapsco

Great spot for exploring ruins, fishing, and sauntering along the trails. Parking is a small lot surrounded by private property so plan accordingly.

Gud place for family... Can do bar b q and enjoy with water...

Would be five stars but the parking is awful. Beautiful shaded path along the river. Kids love the rope swing but if you go on a weekend be prepared for loud groups of foul mouthed teens smoking weed & drinking. Good spot for a slow tube float, the water is clean & clear.

Really nice area for a great hike!

nice little get away can get crowed fast not much parking

The whole area has only about 10 car spots. No parking signs are everywhere. There is no restroom and definitely has shady people. The water is great tho. Open dawn to dusk

DO NOT GO HERE!!! Howard County Park services blocked off half the parking for the park, posted No Parking signs everywhere, all for the sole purpose of writing tickets. And as of late, the swimming area has been flooded with ignorant people who wont let anyone else park there. The park itself though is absolutely beautiful and can be relaxing, if you can get in there...

Beautiful place to swim or kayak. Very limited free parking. Do not park outside of designated parking areas. Do not park in areas that will narrow travel way. Violators will be ticketed or towed. No handicap access. No facilities.

This would be a beautiful place but it is ruined by individuals who have no regard for nature. It is littered with broken bottles, beer cans, food wrappers and dirty diapers floating in the water. The Hispanic people are cluttered here with large families. They were washing their children in the river, had their dogs in the river and even had sleeping hammocks tied up.The parking is minimal (maybe 10 car lot). One of the hispanic women refused to move herself out of an empty parking space and was banging on my car when I attempted to park there. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME GOING HERE. Its just aweful!

This is a beautiful area. It has swimming, canoeing, kayaking, hiking, strolling or just taking in the beauty. If you want to park, its best during the week in the evening. My advice is let someone drop you off and come back to get you later.

Nice trails, but as anyone will tell you the parking is very limited.

Not enough parking space, but plenty of awesome nature. This is a good place for kayaking, especially in the spring just after the geese have hatched.

Great for hiking, biking and fishing. A scenic walk along the river, a great place to come get a peace of mind. Spray yourself with some big repellent and keep the trails clean please!

Easy access to the Patapsco. Good walking trails. Explore what is left if the town of Daniels that was washed away by Hurricane Agnes. Pet Friendly. Needs more parking is the only downside

Dam is cool, but parking here is VERY limited compared to when we visited a few years ago. We came back to our car to a park police putting tickets on cars parked on the side of the road. No parking signs are everywhere! Sad that this limits how many people can enjoy this beautiful area.

Beautiful natural area, regardless of whether God, man or beaver created, littered by certain types of people who have no regard for the law or cannot bear to allow others enjoy it. Shame on you people, opening drinking and smoking in front of children, blasting your tone deaf music, physically intimidating people who are ignoring you. Why do you throw your beer bottles in the bushes and break them? The shards wash onto the walkway during rains and barefoot babies step on them and bleed. Its not civil war era dudes! Whom are you trying to show youre boss?Thank you park rangers, you were there to send most of the unrulies away. Without your presence, Id have turned away from the place.

This beautiful Peaceful place used to be just that !! It was a Haven where my husband would take our boys fishing and quiet hikes enjoying nature and a quiet picnic.....In the last 5 years this park has been over inhabitated by hoards of people building firres in the woods, hammocks in the trees and swimming and washing their dishes in the river, the beautiful once quiet trails are now trampled and in ruins with baby diapers ,graffiti,beer bottles and trash thruout the once beautiful green lush paths...there is No Peace here now in the busy hot summer daysYou cant get to the water thru All the people and their dogs and daily camp sites not to mention the vast majority of campers deficate in these woods w/o respect to others !!Things became so out of control the local Church had to set up cement barriers and No parking signs in hopes to control the hoards of daily campers and trash..they even removed the picnic tables that were once a perfect pucnic place for our boys :/ and many other families.This is the Only portion of the Patapsco St Park that dose not charge a fee for entry and too is Not patrolled leaving it wide open to this uncontrolled Ruin

Was a very beautiful place. In my opinion it was even more so with the cold rain. You could see these giant piles of ice that were as big as i was! The rain gave it this mysterious atmosphere that was very fitting. I only went through part of the park but cant wait to go back and discover what else is hiding. Use extreme caution if you plan on exploring the abandoned house, its been vandalized and picked so bad you can feel the floor dip with every step and even taste each particle of mold in the air.On a lighter note, 10 out of 10 would recommend that you get some waterproof shoes or boots and go when it has a cold rain. I had more fun sliding on the ice patches on the trail than i ever would of thought. It didnt dawn on me to take a photo of it but there were several patches of ice puddles that stretched 10 to 15 feet. With one good jogging start i was slidding all the way across each puddle with ease and delt like i was a kid again :.