Shadyside Park, Shadyside MD

[Lisa]

Hello all,

There's a new launchsite in Shadyside Park in Shadyside, MD.

http://www.aacounty.org/recparks/par...m#.Ul6fcz-LDVI

It's hard to find. We call it Hogwarts. Go to Shadyside Park and pull into the parking lot. There are 2 ballfields closest to Shadyside Road/Muddy Creek Road. Face the ballfields and look down the left side of the left ballfield. Go through the narrow pedestrian opening in the chainlink fence that protects the ballfields. Keep going and look for a split rail fence to your left. Make a left at the split rail fence and go through the jungle tunnel to the water. The put-in is about 4 feet wide and the bottom is sticky but not sucking mud.

It's level 140 yard carry from the parking lot, complicated by that narrow pedestrian opening in the chainlink fence. The opening is big enough for me but narrower than my kayak so you twist and turn your boat to get past the fence. If you have wheels you end up taking the kayak off the wheels, putting the kayak through the opening, and then putting the kayak back on the wheels.

Once you launch you're on Parish Creek off the West River. Dead ahead are the stone groins and sandy beaches of Shady Cove Natural Area on Hopkins Cove off the West River. You can land at Shady Cove but as of yet there is no land access. It's ~5 miles round trip to the new Jack Creek Park on the Chesapeake Bay. It's ~12 miles round trip to top of Deep Creek in the new Franklin Point State Park.

This jungle tunnel is new since rob-kayak tried to find a launchsite in Shadyside Park last summer.

Shadyside Park has parking for at least 100 cars, a very tidy portapotty and trash cans. We've asked the county to move the chainlink fence.

Lisa

[rob-kayak]

Dear Ms. Lisa....

First I wish to apologize to you and your group for not attending the meeting for public support.

But.. You guys are AWESOME !

I hope none of you got poison ivy or bit by a snake bushwacking through the jungle at this spot.

As a non-descript bushwacker for biking mountain trails... or surfing places in my youth,
You and your associates are not without rewards and appreciation.

While most of the fishing kayakers here.... have boat ramps, friends, and just too big a boat
to make the challenge of this access point a viable option for them,
there will most certainly be a few of us that appreciate what you and your friends have worked
to make the beautiful Chesapeake Bay available.

I can not thank you enough for your efforts, and those that appreciate your work, that go unmentioned.

The kayak community, appreciate what you and your friends are achieving,
the community including the business's, will benefit immensely.

Thank you so very much, and your friends.
R

[Lisa]

-snip-
While most of the fishing kayakers here.... have boat ramps, friends, and just too big a boat
to make the challenge of this access point a viable option for them,
there will most certainly be a few of us that appreciate what you and your friends have worked
to make the beautiful Chesapeake Bay available. -snip-
R

Thank you for your kind words. We did prove that poison ivy thrives on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. Pass the Caladryl.

I hope many of you can use the Shadyside Park launch because it puts so much beautiful water within reach. Shadyside is about the same carry distance as Homeport but without the hill. It's mercifully level. If you can put your boat in the water at Homeport you can put your boat in the water more easily at Shadyside. The narrow pedestrian entrance in the chainlink fence is a small speedbump. We've asked the county to move the fence, but I don't know if the fence just stops people from driving on the ballfield or if it's a safety measure to keep people from being hit by foul balls. A wider pedestrian entrance gap may be the end solution.

The Shadyside Park put-in is brand new. That trail to the water wasn't there when rob-kayak looked around the park for a way to the water on the Fourth of July, and it was there when I paddled up to the park in August.

Lisa