Pictured above: Dave Linthicum paddles along Cocktown Creek, a tributary of the Patuxent River, at Kings Landing Park in Calvert County, MD. Photo by Dave Harp

By Jeremy Cox, Chesapeake Bay Journal

It wasn’t until I got home that the full measure of what I had experienced came into focus.

I was unstrapping the kayak from the top of my car when I noticed hues of brown, beige and gold standing out against its white hull. It was sand scoured up from the Patuxent River’s shoreline. More than likely, it had gotten slathered there when I ran the plastic vessel aground upon my return to the launch site.

I wiped some off with my fingertips. And for a few moments, I had some deep thoughts about grit.

This was more than a mess to be washed away with a garden hose. This was a metaphor for what happens to us when we travel, especially outdoors: We end up carrying back things we don’t expect.

Sure, it can be sand. But it’s often something ineffable.

The day took us — Bay Journal photographer Dave Harp, paddling enthusiast Dave Linthicum and I — to Kings Landing Park in Southern Maryland. The Calvert County Department of Parks & Recreation manages the 260-acre suburban getaway in partnership with the Calvert Nature Society.

Our expedition took place on the last day of winter, but hints of spring were in the air. Temperatures had climbed from the 30s in the predawn hours to 70 degrees by the afternoon. Most of the deciduous trees were bereft of leaves, but buds on the red maples were flashing their trademark color.

“It’s my favorite month of the year,” Linthicum said, gazing into the distance. “You can just see so far out into the woods.”

There was certainly no lack of nature to behold.

This stretch of the river, he pointed out — including Kings Landing on the Calvert side and the Black Swamp Creek area on the Prince George’s County side — is the second-largest swath of contiguous protected land along the tidal portion of the Patuxent. Linthicum would know. He makes a living as a mapmaker, updating international boundary lines for the U.S. State Department.

He has made it his life’s mission to get to know the Patuxent. The river begins in Maryland’s Piedmont country, flowing 115 miles in a generally southeasterly direction before depositing into the Chesapeake Bay at Drum Point. Linthicum knows almost every inch of it.

He takes on freelance projects. And his passion project was a waterproof map for the lower 62 miles of the Patuxent. It was nearly two decades in the making. Aerial photographs and digital maps were the foundation. Then, he hiked and paddled across the white spaces between those lines to fill in the details.

“I find it good therapy to get out there. You get to know the backwoods off-trail and find some old colonial road and old ruins from the 1800s. You get to know the area even better when you’re mapping it,” he said.

Linthicum often relied on what he called “old school” methods: counting his steps and using a compass. He also combed over historical documents to augment modern-day features with highlights from the past, including suspected locations of Indigenous villages recorded by Capt. John Smith during his 1608 trip up the river.

Soon, the map was ablaze with details far surpassing other maps, especially for the popular paddling area between miles 40 and 50. There, every power line, fence, slope and trickle of water gets its due. (The map is available for $7 at paxrivereeper.org; proceeds benefit the Patuxent Riverkeeper.)

That precision extends to descriptions of points of interest along the water trail. For instance, the map notes that the distance from the vehicle gate to the kayak launch at Kings Landing is 175 yards. That’s important. You can drive your car to the water’s edge to unload, but you must head back up the road to park near the gate.

Kings Landing was once part of a plantation known as “Kingslanding,” where a family with the surname King enslaved African Americans, according to the Southern Maryland Equity in History Coalition.

The park’s amenities include a community pool, an equestrian ring and hiking trails. But our party was bent on gliding across the water.

One of the park’s distinguishing features, Linthicum said, is that it’s within a half mile of three picturesque Patuxent tributaries: Black Swamp, Chew and Cocktown creeks. Each offers 2-3 miles of relatively easy, flat water.

We aimed for Cocktown Creek, which forms the northern boundary of the park. To get there, we had to paddle about a quarter-mile upstream. That can be difficult on windy days or when the tide is strong, Linthicum warned us. On such days, he recommends hauling your watercraft a few hundred yards down a trail that leads directly to the creek.

But luck was on our side. The surface of the river was like a mirror.

From a distance, the mouth of Cocktown Creek appeared to be little more than a small gap in the yellow reeds. As we paddled onward, the vegetation became interspersed with cattails.

Both sides of the creek are free from visible development. The north side is protected as a haven for hunting and hiking. It’s an ideal destination for those looking to avoid crowds, Linthicum said.

The little creek is basically a series of oxbows, surrounded by marshes. As the ground increases in elevation, the landscape gives over to oaks, loblolly pines, beech trees and maples.

This part of Maryland is classified as a coastal plain, so the elevation here might surprise you. One of the promontories overlooking the Patuxent, for example, looks down 95 feet to the water.

Getting to that overlook, though, is a slog. It requires hiking about 45 minutes south from the pool area’s parking lot at Kings Landing. Most of that hike offers no trail and requires crossing a formidable swatch of marsh, Linthicum said.

Along Cocktown Creek, the occasional bluffs rise 20-40 feet from the water’s edge. Their faces are peppered with gnarled tree roots, stray rocks and alluvial fissures.

Within a few paddle strokes up the creek, it felt like nature had taken control. Red-winged blackbirds called to each other. An osprey nest awaited the return of its tenants. Wood ducks splashed. A great blue heron swooped over the scene.

“I think if you popped in here from the Midwest or New England and you had no idea about this area at all, you would be most blown away by the fact that there is a tidal river 24 miles from [the nation’s capital], where you can paddle for hours and you could hike for hours and not see a soul,” Linthicum said.

We returned to Kings Landing, brimming with a feeling of renewal that only nature can provide. It stuck with me the rest of the day, even after a long drive home that included rush-hour traffic on the Bay Bridge.

My thoughts turned to what Linthicum told me when I asked what makes the middle section of the Patuxent so special.

“You come up the river. You’ve got the lower river with a lot of powerboats and power lines. You’ve got the big Chalk Point power plant. And then you get here. And all of a sudden, it all disappears, and you can just melt into the tributaries.”

And there it was: the word I had been searching for to describe the experience. I had “melted” into the place, and it was everything I needed.

If you go…

Kings Landing Park is at 3255 Kings Landing Road in Huntingtown, MD. Admission is free.

Several miles of trails are available within the park and at the Huntingtown Natural Resources Management Area off Smoky Road. Water access is available for kayaks and canoes only via a soft launch adjacent to the Patuxent River pier.

Other amenities include a public pool (open Memorial Day to Labor Day), a picnic pavilion, primitive camping for youth groups and rental of its event facility for up to 160 guests. An equestrian facility features a 150-by-300 riding ring.

About the Author: Jeremy Cox is a Bay Journal staff writer based in Maryland. You can reach him at jcox@bayjournal.com. This column printed with permission of the Chesapeake Bay Journal. It has been edited for space. For more like this http://www.bayjournal.com.