Beachwood Park Old Water Access Road Cleared

[Lisa]

Hi all,

The old access road to the water at Beachwood Park is clear. It's still a longish carry, but it's a longish straight carry on a much gentler slope than the old route meandering through the woods or the even older billy goat route over the building foundations. The top of the hill, nearest the street, is a little steeper than I thought it would be. I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of it.

The Beachwood Park website hasn't yet been updated: http://www.aacounty.org/RecParks/par.../beachwood.cfm

Beachwood Park is on the north side of the Magothy River in Anne Arundel County, MD. Directions: Take Route 100 East. Turn right on Magothy Bridge Road. Turn left on Beachwood Park Road. The park entrance is ~1/4 mile ahead on the right. If you cross Magothy Bridge you went too far.

The Magothy River Association is having a general park cleanup day on Saturday, October 31, 2015. Details below.

Lisa

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Beachwood Park Cleanup: Saturday October 31 2015

Join the Magothy River Association's Beachwood Park general cleanup party on Saturday, October 31st from 9:30 am - noon. Bring gloves and wear sturdy shoes. Also bring garden tools for raking, branch trimming and mulch spreading. Opportunities abound!. Anyone with hip waders please bring them - we have a *special assignment* for you!

Bonus: Come check out the new and improved kayak launch area!

[Mark]

Lisa,

I visited it a few days ago with Harry just to see it, not to negotiate the path with my kayak.

You're correct, it's a straighter shot and a gentler slope near the actual launch site than the existing path. Yet it is long.

Vehicle access to the road and the creation of a drop-off point at the water's edge would be the best solution. Barring that I believe the road needs more work to make it friendlier to those of us pulling our yaks and gear on wheels. Adding either a thick layer of wood chips, gravel or ideally macadam would help greatly.

Overall I like its location. It launches into the back end of the Magothy which is prime pickerel, yellow perch and white perch water. It should be an especially good fishing destination for those species early in the spring and for pickerel in the fall.

As always, thank you for your efforts to improve our access to the county's waters.

[On the fly]

Lisa,
Mark and I went and looked at the access road. It is definely better than before. It is a long carry but better than the bully goat trail. We are going to try a launch there sometime in the future to see how it works out.

Harry

[whenican]

I was there this past saturday & it's definitely best for those who carry their kayak w/2 people.
I assume there will always be a chain across the access at the top of the hill. Though I was able to park down the street at the main access point, there was one vehicle parked sideways so as to take up 4 or 5 spaces where others could have parked. I saw the big pile of brush at the bittom of the hill awaiting removal or woodchipping.
Thank-you Lisa for all you have done.

[Lisa]

You're welcome. Beachwood is a work in progress. It wasn't originally on this year's priority list. We worked with the county and the Magothy River Association and we all ended up agreeing that spending a little bit of money to clear the old access road was a good idea. Now that the road is cleared we can see what we have to work with for future improvements.

The old water access road dates back to the days of segregation when Beachwood was an African-American beach resort. There is also an old parking lot next to the old water access road - it was a bus parking lot for the resort. As soon as the county gets a permit Rec & Parks plans to clear that old parking lot and the carry will get a little bit shorter.

Lisa

[Lisa]

I would like to see a drop off at the water at Beachwood. Even with a cart, it's going to be a long uphill hike after a day on the water!

What you can do to help further with Beachwood:

1) Join the Magothy River Association. The MRA turned Beachwood into a park and strongly supports public water access. If the MRA volunteers hadn't stepped up and made paths, taken tons of trash out, installed signs, flagged trails and lots more at Beachwood we would not have been able to get the old access road open. The MRA literally did all the heavy lifting at that park. It's $20/year. MRA website = http://www.magothyriver.org/

2) Go to the MRA Beachwood cleanup this Saturday 10/31/15 from 9:30 am to noon. They're going to be grooming the new path and assessing it for improvement.

3) Come to the Wednesday December 9th Water Access Committee meeting and tell Rec & Parks what you want to see at Beachwood.

Thanks

Lisa

[Lisa]

4) Launch your yaks out of Beachwood. Rec & Parks asks that people park temporarily by the newly cleared road, drop their yaks and then go back and park in the main parking area. If people routinely park on the street then the neighbors will ask DPW for "No Parking" signs and we don't want that. Once the old bus parking lot is cleared we can park there.

Thanks

Lisa

[Mark]

4) Once the old bus parking lot is cleared we can park there.

Very encouraging.

I look forward to that.

[EMSer]

1) Join the Magothy River Association. The MRA turned Beachwood into a park and strongly supports public water access. If the MRA volunteers hadn't stepped up and made paths, taken tons of trash out, installed signs, flagged trails and lots more at Beachwood we would not have been able to get the old access road open. The MRA literally did all the heavy lifting at that park. It's $20/year. MRA website = http://www.magothyriver.org/




Thanks for the info Lisa,

Just joined MRA

[Lisa]

Here's a video of the Beachwood access road that Chuck McMillin of Chesapeake Kayak Adventures took today:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=423911097801968

Lisa