She Runs by the Seashore

I’d been wanting to make it back to the trails at Hashawha Environmental Center in Westminster, Maryland, for a while, and I finally made that happen last month, on Sept. 6.

I grew up about 30 minutes away in Hampstead, and I remember going to Hashawha — which is north of the Westminster city limits — for a running program in the summer, which I believe would have either been the summer before I graduated high school (2007) or the summer after I graduated (2008). I also spent a week at Hashawha during Outdoor School in sixth grade (during the 2001-2002 school year). Either way, it had been years since I’d run there.

There are about five miles of trails at Hashawha. They can be seen on a map here, but I did find them a little bit hard to follow (I went the wrong way at least once). I found the Hashawha Loop on AllTrails and decided to park near Lake Hashawha to start my run.

Either way, I got in a 3.5 mile run and I got to explore what was basically a new-to-me area.

I took a slow pace, and my run included plenty of stops to take photos and walk breaks. There were some steep hills to tackle, too. The trails included a little bit of everything: wider trail sections, grassy sections, single track trails and bridges. Part of the trail even went through a cornfield.

Also along the trail was the Martin Cabin Homestead, a historic home.

There are more trails to explore at Hashawha, so I hope to return for further exploring!