Hikes In North East And Elk Neck State Park, A Bushel Of Blue Crabs, Fresh Produce But No Pawpaws To Bring Back Home

It was a warm and muggy  morning when I awoke on Friday in the quaint and historic town of North East Maryland.   Having learned some of  the history,  I reflected, while I was having my coffee,  on how Captain John Smith could have roamed the area near where I slept when he explored here over  400 years ago.  After  a couple of cups of coffee I left the hotel in the pre-dawn twilight.  The skies were mostly clear so I hoped to see a sunrise as I drove to the Community Park in North East.  I arrived at the park before sunrise but, unfortunately, the rising sun was obscured by clouds and trees.

I walked down to the  shore of the North East River and the Chesapeake Bay.

And then walked through the park for the 3rd time seeing,

again, a lot of  gray squirrels scrambling through the park grounds,

mallard ducks swimming in the water of the bay,

or waddling through the park

and flocks of Canada geese in the water,

or flying overhead in the early morning sunshine.

A great blue heron  stalked the waters of the bay.

There were a few folks, also up early, and  walking in the park.I  took in one last look at  the   North East River and the North east Creek which  create the northeastern  section of the famous and historic Chesapeake Bay,

and then began my drive to the nearby Elk Neck State Forest.  The Elk Neck State Forest is  not part of  the Elk Neck State Park where I hiked the previous day.  The State Forest is on the northern  area of the peninsula. It is made up of 4 separate tracts totaling over 3,000 acres of forest.  I decided to hike in the Black Hill tract on the Black Hill Lookout Tower trail. I drove a few miles to the McKinneytown Road and parked at the trail head behind the park ranger station.

The trail was dirt and grass covered and took me into familiar  woodland with pitch  pine,

and oak trees.  The rays from the rising sun filtered through the leaves of the red and chestnut oaks.

I was surprised  to find the the  understory of the large trees was covered with mountain laurel, the State flower of my state, Pennsylvania. There were large groves all along the trail. I am sure it is a beautiful place to hike then the mountain laurel blooms in Spring.

I  was also surprised to find many species of mushrooms and fungi growing on and along the trail including, I believe Blushers, a species of Amanita mushrooms,

many  different species of Russula mushrooms, I believe this  is a firm Russula,

and this creamy or  sickner  Russula mushroom.

I love finding mushrooms on my hike. I have learned how  to identify many  edible mushrooms and   I found a few on this trail  including this voluminous milk cap,  a Lactarius mushroom,

colorful cinnabar chanterelle mushrooms, 

this a  king bolete,

and a lot of chicken fat mushrooms. 

Princess pine clubmoss,  which I see everywhere on my hikes in Northeastern Pennsylvania also grew along the trail.   Sassafras and birch trees also grew beneath the older and taller pine and oak trees. Unfortunately these familiar   woodlands did not  have any pawpaw trees. I was disappointed since one of the reasons for my visit to the Chesapeake Bay was to take back some of this native fruit. I found dozens  of trees, and hundreds of ripe pawpaw fruit in Havre de Grace and at the Turkey Point  Lighthouse.

I did not see a lot of bird or other wildlife activity on my hike but I did see this  beautiful pileated woodpecker.

I followed  the trail up the ridge and after about a mile I came to the abandoned fire tower on the summit of Black Hill.

Here I found a  flock of turkey buzzards perched on the tower,  most flew off as I approached but a few remained and took a  look at me looking at them. They are not pretty birds, in my humble opinion anyway.

While looking up at the turkey vultures I noticed the waning gibbous moon in the clear blue skies.

I walked  back down the ridge enjoying the sunshine filtering through the trees,

 seeing a few more birds, including a red bellied woodpecker,

and a couple of migratory song birds, a hooded warbler,

and an ovenbird, another small warbler, probably on their way south for the Winter.

I finished my 2 1/2 mile hike around 9:30 a.m.  I had arranged pick up a 1/2 bushel of steamed  Maryland blue crabs at 11:30 a.m. at the  nearby Bay Crawlers Crab Shack. So I had time to take one more hike, and, hopefully find some pawpaws to take back too.

I drove back toward North East and took the Irishtown Road to Main Tract of the forest and to a parking lot on the Mason-Dixon Trail. I had hiked on this trail in Havre de Grace Maryland two day earlier. This 199 mile trail  passes through 3 states and connects the Appalachian and Brandywine River Trails.

As soon as I walked into the woods on the trail I  knew I wouldn’t be taking any pawpaws home with me. I found the same type of woods as on the Black Hill Lookout Trail.  Mostly oaks, maples and some pines. There was also a lot of mountian laurel here too.  Not the type of woodslands were I had found pawpaws.

I walked through  the woodlands and the early morning sunshine.

There wasn’t much bird or wildlife activity, the only wildlife I saw was this spider on it’s web.   Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos of the birds and other wildlife I saw on my hikes. North East, Elk Neck State Park wildlife  Maryland September 4 2026.

I also found an edible cauliflower mushroom.

I wanted to  get some breakfast before I drove back to Pennsylvania so I only hiked out about a 1/2 mile before hiking back to my Jeep. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog website with some more photos from  my hikes.  North East, Elk Neck State Park   Maryland September 4 2026.

I looked for a restaurant where I could get some breakfast but couldn’t find one in the small town of North East. I was still early when I got back to my hotel. It was around 10 am. The folks at the front desk told me about a restaurant, the North East Family Restaurant that was nearby and had a good breakfast. They were right.  I love these small town diners.  I had something different, a seafood omelet.  There was a lot of local crab, shrimp and scallops  and it wasdelicious. It would tide me over on my 3 hour journey home.

First I had to pick up the steamed blue crabs.  On the way to the Bay Crawlers Crab Shack  I stopped at this roadside produce stand on the way, and picked up some sweet corn and tomatos.

I then picked up a 1/2 bushel of freshly steamed crabs. I headed home with the crab and fresh produce. I didn’t have the pawpaws I hoped to bring back, but it was a great weekend. I got to explore more of the historic Chesapeake Bay  and 2 out of 3 ain’t  too bad. We had a great time at my nephew Charlie, and his wife,Casey’s Labor Day party that afernoon, continuing our 50 year tradition of eaing Maryland hardshell crabs.

“There is a saying in Baltimore that crabs may be prepared in fifty ways and that all of them are good.”
H. L. Mencken

“Without a doubt, one of my favorite American ingredients is blue crabs, a true delicacy! And a great value, I think.”
Jose Andres