Patapsco State Park – Hilton Area
1001 Hilton Ave
Catonsville, MD 21228
Catonsville Tire Park is located in the Hilton area of Patapsco state park. The sign at the entrance says there is a $2/person entrance fee – there is a cash box to collect the fee (honor system).
In this area of the park, the main feature is the 2 acre playground made mostly out of recycled tires. The girls loved running and climbing over the longgg rows of tires. There are 2 main play structures (one made out of wood and tires and one more traditional playground) and then countless tire play areas to explore. Just FYI, there are no swings here except for one tire swing. The playground area is really open and spread out so it’s easy to keep an eye on your kids here, and should be easy to social distance. It was cold and damp this morning and we had the place to ourselves – hoping someone more familiar with this park will chime in on how busy it gets on nicer days!
Also in this area of the park is a small nature center (currently closed), a nature play area (the highlight of this was the “plinko” board for rocks!) and a small sensory trail. The sensory trail was cool but a lot of the elements were empty (like raised beds with a flower garden, herb garden etc) so I’m excited to come back later this spring when it’s hopefully all filled in! The girls still loved walking on it and checking out all the different stations.
We spent a little over an hour here today before the rain picked up. You could easily spend several hours here – there are several hiking trails that we didn’t get to explore. Our main goal today was just to check out the playground but we will definitely come back and do another post on the trails as well!
🚽 Bathrooms 🚽: yes! Open and clean
👩👧👦Solo w/ kids?👩👧👦: yes
🛒 Stroller friendly?🛒: yes
🦠Covid-safe🦠: empty while we were there (cold and rainy morning) but very spread out and open so I’d imagine it would be fine even if busier
🅿️Parking🅿️: We parked to the right of the playground near the nature center. $2 entrance fee per person (cash only, honor system)
🧺 Picnic tables: Yes, several nice covered pavilions – great spot to bring lunch!
Maryland Kid Adventures 