Park Quest 2022: Pollinator-Palooza
Quest Materials
Quest Information:
Whenever you choose to visit, there’s always something a-buzz! Take the red trail, any time between May and October, to marvel at the complex relationship between plants and pollinators. If you choose to come earlier in the spring, you’ll see many plants just beginning to bloom. If you choose to come later in the summer or fall, you’ll see many plants bearing fruit. Any time is a great time to visit!
Before your visit, download the iNaturalist app. Use the app to snap pictures of your observations, share your findings with a like-minded community, and get professional identification assistance. Need help getting started? Follow this link for helpful tips and videos:
https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/getting+started
Your quest is to walk the red trail, making careful observations of the plants, their pollinators, and the results of their pollination. Snap pictures of your observations and upload them to iNaturalist for identification assistance. Below is a list of what you might be able to find, month by month. Good luck & happy observing!
May
Mountain laurel,
Kalmia latifolia
Flowering dogwood,
Cornus florida
Pinxter azalea,
Rhododendron periclymenoides
American holly,
Ilex opaca
Wild cherry (fruit,)
Prunus serotina
American wild plum (flower,)
Prunus americana
Skunk cabbage,
Symplocarpus foetidus
Allegheny blackberry (flowers,)
Rubus allegheniensis
June
Blue flag,
Iris versicolor
Paw paw (flowers,)
Asimina triloba
Sweetbay magnolia,
Magnolia virginiana
Common persimmon (flowers),
Diospyros virginiana
Black huckleberry (flowers,)
Gaylussacia baccata
Wild columbine,
Aquilegia canadensis
July
Sweet pepperbush,
Clethra alnifolia
Lizard’s tail,
Saururus cernuus
Downy rattlesnake plantain,
Goodyera pubescens
Allegheny blackberry (fruit,)
Rubus allegheniensis
August
American water lily,
Nymphaea odorata
Broadleaf arrowhead,
Sagittaria latifolia
Wild cherry (fruit,)
Prunus serotina
American wild plum (fruit,)
Prunus americana
Black huckleberry (fruit,)
Gaylussacia baccata
September
Paw paw (fruit,)
Asimina triloba
Black walnut (fruit),
Juglans nigra
Bitternut hickory (fruit,)
Carya cordiformis
October
Pickerelweed,
Pontederia cordata
Common persimmon (fruit),
Diospyros virginiana
Park Information:
- Be sure to remember your sunscreen, bug repellant, and water.
- While the park is open daily from sunrise to sunset, it often fills to capacity. For this reason, it is best to complete your quest on a weekday.
- Park Quest will be available Monday through Friday, from sunrise to sunset, from May 1st until October 31st. Park Quest is not available on the weekends or holidays.
- Begin your quest by picking up the red trail at the parking lot.
- The quest is 1.8 miles one way, so 3.6 miles round trip.
- There is much to see, so be prepared for your leisurely stroll to take 2-3 hours to complete.
- Record your iNaturalist username in your Park Quest booklet as proof you’ve completed your quest.
- While the red trail is not wheelchair or stroller accessible, the recycled tire playground is.
- Dogs on leash are welcome. Please clean up after your pet.
Calvert Cliffs State Park is a day-use park featuring a sandy beach, unique fossils, an accessible recycled tire playground, fishing, a freshwater and tidal marshland and 13 miles of hiking trails.
Park Address:
Calvert Cliffs State Park 10540 H. G. Trueman Road Lusby, Maryland Contact phone number: 443-975-4360
Hours: Sunrise to sunset. Daily, year round.
Day use service charge is $5/vehicle ($2 additional for out-of-state residents), small bus $10, large bus $20. Cash only.
From the Baltimore/DC/points north:
Travel I-95/495 (Capital Beltway) to Exit 11 and head south on MD 4 into Calvert County. After about 30 miles (from the Beltway), continue past Prince Frederick another 12 miles to MD 765 (HG Trueman Road). Turn left (east) and follow the signs leading to the entrance to the State Park, in about 1.4 miles.
