Black Hill Visitor Center is located in Boyds, Maryland, overlooking Little Seneca Lake in Black Hill Regional Park. The center is home to the Black Hill Nature Programs.

The Visitor Center hosts an information desk, restrooms, exhibits, children’s corner, auditorium, and naturalist staff offices. It is a perfect place to get more information about the park, attend a nature program, or take a break to enjoy a glorious sunset

Outside surrounding the center, are natural play spaces perfect for fun exploration, native plant gardens maintained by wonderful volunteers, a pond, meadow, and a one of a kind Earth Bench.

Black Hill Nature Center

This is Little Seneca Lake, a 505-acre lake located in Black Hill Regional Park in Montgomery County, Maryland. Like all lakes in Maryland, it is man-made, created by the WSSC (Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission) as an emergency water supply for the Washington DC metro area. It is surrounded by over 2,000 acres of forest, meadow, and lake habitats that host diverse flora and fauna. This view is from the Visitor Center deck and is a wonderful spot for watching sunsets throughout the year.

Little Seneca Lake

This is Little Seneca Creek, one of the three main tributaries to Little Seneca Lake in Black Hill Regional Park. Along with Cabin Branch and Ten Mile Creek, the waters from this creek run year-round, feeding water into Little Seneca Lake. Streams and their surroundings are in a constant state of change. Rain events raise the water levels and rate of flow, often changing the course of the water channels and eroding the banks. Look for trees chewed by beavers, early Spring ephemeral wildflowers, and the beautiful colors of Fall. The landscape of a creek is ever changing and amazing to observe.

Little Seneca Creek

This is our wildflower meadow in Black Hill Regional Park, home to grasses and flowers, birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals. Visitors to the meadow can stroll the paths watching the wildlife or spend time with the family in some of our Nature Playspaces areas designed for children to enjoy outdoor play that isn't your average playground. Kids (and adults too) can snip some flowers and plants in the Cutting and Herb Gardens, watch insects at work in the Pollinator Garden, dig in the dirt in the Digging Pit or make a mud pie in the Mud Kitchen.

The Wildflower Meadow

On March 24, 2016, Black Hill Regional Park experienced a wildfire, which was almost certainly man-made. In fact, 96% of wildfires in Maryland are caused by humans, with the remaining 4% caused by lightening strikes. The chances for wildfires peak in Spring and Fall for Maryland though they can happen any time of year. This fire was about three acres in size and, like most wildfires in Maryland, was a surface fire - meaning that the fire did not reach the canopy of the forest and stayed close to the ground. 

Black Hill Nature Center

Maryland

4 chronologs managed by Black Hill Nature Center

Little Seneca Lake

Little Seneca Creek

The Wildflower Meadow

Wildfire Area

About Black Hill Nature Center

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