Sligo Creek Park: Silver Spring's Getaway

Maryland would be lost without its waterways, and those who live away from the Chesapeake still yearn for a taste of the waterfront; enter Sligo Creek, a tributary from the Anacostia River. Sligo Creek flows through Silver Spring and serves as a popular place for suburbanites of the Northeast section of Washington to escape to on weekends.

With any major waterway in Washington come the recreational activities stemming from it: biking and running trails, hiking through the surrounding woods, kayaking and canoeing on the water, fishing, picnics and places for dogs to roam. The creek is a literal breath of fresh air for this corner of greater Washington, which sometimes gets a little bit of the stepchild feeling next to the suburbs of Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Kensington (who get to enjoy the Potomac). The entire creek is about eight miles long, and is extremely picturesque and rustic, with wood bridges, trees and local creatures.

Sligo Creek stretches across from Wheaton to Hyattsville, and all of these towns have a public park space for the creek. Through history, the creek played a crucial role in the development of these towns, through the building of mills and distilleries. Today, only a small part of that history remains: in Takoma Park, a dam and building foundations still exist. In their places lie playing fields and picnic grounds.

The popular bike trail makes it way from Wheaton to the Anacostia trail system. Bikers can also connect to the Capital Crescent Trail, which begins in Bethesda. The trail can get busy on weekends, but not packed. Loyal supporters of maintaining Sligo Creek are part of the Friends of Sligo Creek group, which partakes in anything from preservation and maintenance to environmentalism and cleanups.

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