Wed., April 15 to May 20 10:30am-11:30am Ages 2 to 5, with an Adult. Discovering nature is a lifelong journey. In this class, you and your little one will explore the natural world through hands-on activities, nature play, stories and crafts. Non-mobile siblings only, parent/guardian must be an active participant. This program will be held
Sat., May 23 1pm-3pm Ages 16+. The atlatl is one of mankind’s most ancient hunting tools, used with a long dart, as the projectile of choice. Learn how to craft a simple atlatl and also make a dart to test at the end of the program. $6/person REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Sun, May 24, 11am-12pm Dandelions – Ages 6+. One of our most common weeds is actually edible, has antibiotic properties, and can be made into a non-caffeinated “coffee” from the roots. Learn about the cheerful yellow flower and make a craft to take home. $3/person. REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Sat., May 30 10am-12pm Garden Impressions: Plant Prints on Cloth – Ages 8+. Capture the colors and textures of spring in a work of art you can keep forever. A Naturalist will guide you through pressing and printing fresh botanicals from the garden onto fabric. $6/person. REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Sun., May 31 1pm-2:30pm The Beatles! – Ages 4 to 10, with an Adult. No, not the rock group, but just as cool! Discover the most diverse group of insects on the planet and learn what makes a beetle, a beetle. Go home with your very own baby beetle to raise and watch in amazement
Saturday, June 6; 10:00am-3:00pm Park Explorers – All Ages. Visit the Willow Grove Nature Center and pick up your Park Explorer booklet which will lead you on a self-guided hike. Upon your return, get your booklet stamped! FREE! Drop-In
Saturday, June 6; 1:00pm – 3:00pm Aromatherapy 101 – Ages 18+. Are you curious about how to safely use aromatherapy for your personal health and wellness? Join Beverly Hamilton for this experiential class and learn how to safely use 7 essential oils to create a blend for your personal use. Topics include: a brief history
Sunday, June 7; 1:00pm-3:00pm Nature on Film: Make Your Own Camera – Ages 10+. Join a naturalist to create your own camera out of a recycled can and go on a hike to learn photography techniques. Personal cameras and cell phones welcome! $2.00/person REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Saturday, June 13; 9:00am-11:00am Fishing with a Ranger – Ages 6+. Join us to try your hand at catching a panfish out of the Gunpowder River. We supply the worms and the rods! $3.00/person REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Sunday, June 14 at 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM Arthropod Adventure – All Ages Two, four, six, eight, ten legs! Join a naturalist as we search under logs and rocks for our local insects, many-legged millipedes and other critters! $2.00/person. REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Sunday, July 5; 1:00pm-3:00pm Primitive Technology: Osteotechnology – Ages 18+. Primitive man used and made tools from bone. Join a naturalist to make an awl and then sew a small leather pouch. $5.00/person REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Saturday, July 11; 1:00pm-2:30pm Shell-A-Brate – Ages 2-10 with an adult. How do turtles communicate? By using their shell-phones! Meet our resident turtles and make a "turtly" awesome craft to take home. $2.00/person REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Sunday, July 12 at 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM Signs of Nature – Ages 5+. Have you ever wanted to learn some American Sign Language? Well now is your chance. Join a naturalist on a guided hike to learn how to sign names of different flora and fauna. All skill levels are welcome! FREE REGISTRATION
Saturday, July 18; 1:00pm – 3:00pm Earth Oven Berry Shortcake Ages 5+. Join a Naturalist to pick berries in the park. Then come back to the Willow Grove Nature Center to create a cool treat with the fruits we collected. $6.00/person REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Sunday, July 19; 10:00am-11:30am World Snake Day – All Ages. Join a naturalist for a fun “snake safari” as we look for native snakes in Cromwell Valley Park. FREE REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Saturday, July 25; 1:00pm-3:00pm Frog Roundup – All Ages. Hop along with a naturalist to the bubbling spring to look for our amphibian friends. We'll try to capture some to examine, then release them! $2.00/person REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Sunday, July 26; 1:00pm-2:30pm Amazing Hummingbirds – Ages 8+. Join a naturalist to learn about the tiny and mighty ruby-throated hummingbird. We'll look for them in our Childrens' Garden, then return to the Willow Grove Nature Center to make hummingbird feeders! $6.00/person REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Friday, July 31; 8:00pm-9:30pm Buck Full Moon Hike – Ages 8+. During this time of year, male deer are sporting antlers covered in velvet that help their antlers reach full size. As they mature, the velvet falls away to reveal amazing antlers! Join a naturalist to explore the park in the dark under the summer
Saturday, August 1; 10:00am-12:00pm Hidden Trails Hike – Ages 8+. Join a naturalist as we discover some of the lesser-known trails in the park. $2.00/person REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Sunday, August 2; 1:00pm-2:30pm Discovering Dragonflies – All Ages. Did you know that dragonflies are apex predators of the insect world? Learn fun facts about these "hawks of the insect world" as we search for them! FREE REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Saturday, August 8; 1:00pm-2:30pm Mean Green Meat-Eating Machine – Ages 10+. Meat eating plants?! Learn about these other worldly native plants that trap and kill prey in order to survive. Bring one home to raise as your own! $6/person REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Sunday, August 9; 12:00pm-1:00pm Cyanotype Prints – Ages 10+. Join a naturalist on a guided hike to collect leaves, flowers, and sticks. With a little sun and some special paper, you can leave your mark with your own cyan print! $3.00/person REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Saturday, August 15; 1:00 pm-2:00pm Lunch For Our Feathered Bunch – All Ages. Join a naturalist to help us feed our feathered friends and to discover that they are not picky eaters! $3.00/person REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Sunday, August 16; 10:00am-11:30am Insect Sing-a-Long – All Ages. Many insects are just now getting their voices, even though they were there all along. Why sing now? Join a naturalist to find these insects and learn why they are beginning to make themselves heard. We have the nets! FREE REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Saturday, August 22; 1:00pm-3:00pm Adults 18+. The sling has been used for thousands of years. It can make a rock go from zero to 90 miles an hour. That is what made it a formidable weapon. Join us to make one to take home! $12.00/person REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Friday, August 28; 7:30pm-9:00pm Campfire Cooking Under the Full Moon – Ages 8+. Enjoy a night hike under the full Sturgeon Moon and learn how to cook delicious, simple meals over an open flame! Participants prepare classic campfire dishes while practicing safe fire-building and cleanup techniques. $6/person REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Saturday, August 29; 1:00pm-3:00pm Migrating Monarchs – Ages 5+. An animal that migrates thousands of miles with no map?! How do they do it? Where do they go? Join us as we observe, capture, tag, and release these delicate insects to help track them for science. $3.00/person REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Sunday, August 23; 9:00am-11:00am Forest Bathing – Ages 16+. A technique by which one becomes attuned to the environment through mindful concentration. Based on the Japanese practice known as shinrin-yoku. $12.00/person REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Sunday, August 30; 1:00pm-2:30pm Terrarium Building Workshop – Ages 8+. Build your own miniature world! Participants design glass terrariums using soil, moss, rocks, and plants while learning how these small ecosystems work. A relaxing, hands-on activity that combines creativity, ecology, and a beautiful take-home creation. $12.00/person REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Fridays, September 4 at 10:00am-11:00am Trails with Tots 5+ w/Adult - Join the naturalists this fall on the 1st and 3rd Friday, September-November, from 10:00am-11:00am, and enjoy the benefits of being active outdoors with your little ones! FREE! REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Saturday, September 5 at 12:00pm-1:00pm Escape from Sherwood House – Ages 12+. Join us for a spooky tour of the Sherwood House and try to find the clues to secure your escape! $6.00/person REGISTRATION REQUIRED
When: Saturday September 5th, 2:00 until 4:30 pm Summer Jam Session - Ages 16+. Play along with old time tunes or just stop in for a listen! Bring your instrument and a chair, and join us in the Beech Grove on Sherwood Lawn. In inclement weather, the fun will continue inside Sherwood House or the
Sunday, September 7 at 1 PM to 2:30 PM Meadow Singers – All Ages. These important fall flowers are important to pollinators. Join a naturalist on a meadow walk to learn more about the benefits of these fall bloomers. Then return to the nature center to make a flower craft. $3/person. REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Saturday, September 12 at 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM Golden Truths About Goldenrods and Aster – All Ages. Take a history tour of the Sherwood Mansion and get a little “behind the scenes” look at this home that was built in 1935. Join us at the end for a brief English-style teatime. $3/person. REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Sunday, September 13 at 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM Earth Skills Workshop Rendezvous – Ages 10+ -- Have you ever wanted to try your hand at flint knapping - the ancient practice of shaping stone into projectile points? Or learn to make a survival bow from natural materials that will help keep you alive in
Friday, September 18 at 10:00am-11:00am Trails with Tots 5+ w/Adult - Join the naturalists this fall on the 1st and 3rd Friday, September-November, from 10:00am-11:00am, and enjoy the benefits of being active outdoors with your little ones! FREE! REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Sat, Sept. 19, 9am-11am Drop in Gardening! – Ages 13+, with an Adult. Join us for a morning in the garden. We provide direction, gloves, tools, and water. You bring a hat, sunscreen and a little energy. Drop-in program. FREE!
Saturday, September 19 at 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM Farmer Kids: From Garden to Table – Ages 5-12 with an adult. Monthly gardening series where kids plant, harvest, cook, and eat! At each session, we’ll learn what can be planted at that time of year and the proper way to plant it. Then we’ll harvest
Sunday, September 20 at 10:00 to 11:00am Trail Runners – Ages 16+. Want to get active with a group of like-minded people? Join a naturalist on a leisurely 1.5 mile run through the park. We’ll start and end the run with some group stretches! FREE! REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Volunteer Training (New and Returning) Wednesday, September 23 to Friday, September 25 at 10:00 AM-2:00 PM Ages 18+. Join us for volunteer training! Participants will meet at a different park sites and learn about a variety of natural, historical and interpretive topics and discover the ways to volunteer at the site from the BCRP Park
Friday, September 25 at 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM The Full Corn Moon Hike – Ages 8+. Learn how Indigenous people propagated the corn plant to what it is today. Find out why they call it one of the “Three Sisters”. Join us for a campfire corn boil, popcorn over an open flame, and corn
Saturday, September 26 at 1:00 PM-3:00 PM Autumn Leaf Lab – Ages 10+. Explore the park to collect and compare leaves while learning how to identify trees by their shape, margins, and veins. We’ll also talk about why leaves change color in the fall. Participants will create a simple leaf journal page or rubbing to
Sunday, September 27 at 10:00 AM-1:00 PM Let's Hawk Watch – Ages 14+. Train to become a Hawk Watch volunteer! Be involved in participatory science and learn how to identify raptors in flight. Witness the joy of viewing hundreds (if not thousands) of Broad-winged Hawks along with eagles, hawks, falcons and vultures, as they migrate
Mondays April 6- Oct. 26 8:30am-10:30am & Thursdays April 9 - Oct. 29 8:30am-10:30am Ages 18+. Do you enjoy gardening, but don’t have the space or a deer-proof fence? Join like-minded green thumbs (and beginner brown thumbs) to grow your own vegetables, herbs and flowers and tend to our shared garden plots. We’ll provide the
Tuesdays, September 15 to October 20 at 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM Polliwogs! - Ages 2 to 5, with an Adult. Discovering nature is a lifelong journey. In this class, you and your little one will explore the natural world through hands-on activities, nature play, stories and crafts. Non-mobile siblings only, parent/guardian must be an
Wednesdays, September 2 to November 25 at 9:30 to 10:30 AM Autumn Senior Stroll – Ages 55+. Walking in nature provides benefits to both the mind and body. Enjoy a relaxing stroll with one of our Naturalists along some of Cromwell Valley’s less strenuous trails. Meet at Sherwood House. FREE! REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Wednesdays, September 16 to October 21 at 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM Polliwogs! - Ages 2 to 5, with an Adult. Discovering nature is a lifelong journey. In this class, you and your little one will explore the natural world through hands-on activities, nature play, stories and crafts. Non-mobile siblings only, parent/guardian must be an
Friday, October 2 at 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM Trails with Tots – Ages 5+ with an adult. Join the naturalists this fall on the 1st and 3rd Friday, September-November, from 10:00am-11:00am, and enjoy the benefits of being active outdoors with your little ones! FREE! REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Saturday, October 3 at 1:00PM- 3:00PM Primitive Technology: Bull Roarers – Ages 18+. Join us in the Primitive Technology Lab to create a sounding device used by indigenous peoples around the world to commune with and invoke the spirits. Please bring a sturdy carving knife; NO serrated blades! $6.00/person REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Sunday, October 4 at 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM A Murder of Crows and an Unkindness of Ravens – Ages 14+. Why are these curious, social, caring and intelligent birds often linked to the afterlife? Join a naturalist as we walk and share some stories, poems and symbolism associated with these birds. $3.00/person REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Cromwell Valley Park Office
(Sherwood House)
2002 Cromwell Bridge Rd
Parkville, MD 21234
GPS: 39.415, -76.552
Phone: 410-887-2503
TDD: 410-887-5319
Willow Grove Nature Education Center
2175 Cromwell Bridge Rd
Parkville, MD 21234
GPS: 39.417, -76.548
Please remember that the Park itself is open only during daylight hours, sunrise to sunset.
In case of inclement weather, the Nature Center and activities follow Baltimore County Pubic Schools. Check the BCPS Website for the latest information on closing. If closing early, all evening activities at the Park are cancelled.
On Saturdays and Sundays when the office is closed, you may call the Nature Education Center.
Note: The addresses (2002 and 2175) are really for Post Office use. If used on a GPS, they may take you to a strange place in the park, or leave you on the main road. Use the GPS coordinates instead.
The Cromwell Valley Park Council (CVPC) is a volunteer, non-profit organization dedicated to the stewardship of Cromwell Valley Park as a public space for passive recreation and School Programs. The CVPC works in cooperation with the Baltimore County Department of Recreation and Parks and other entities to maintain, preserve and protect the natural environment and historic structures in the Park.
The Cromwell Valley Park Council is not an official site for Baltimore County Government.