Leave it to a group of kids to lead me right back to where I’ve been before.
Two years ago, I followed tips about abandoned cars and other dumping in East Baltimore’s lower Herring Run Park.
The tipsters weren’t wrong.
Abandoned cars have littered Herring Run Park south of Sinclair Lane for so long the situation reeks of a “that’s just the way things are” mindset all too common in Baltimore.
On a recent return trip to lower Herring Run Park, this time with a group of middle schoolers, I saw nothing much had changed.
The park was the young hikers’ stomping grounds throughout the school year. It is near their Armistead Gardens Elementary/Middle School. Katlyn Talerico, a student support lead, took the group to the park nearly every week.
What better way to check back on the conditions there?
On the eve of their summer break, Talerico’s “motley crew” of five, as she endearingly calls them, met for one final hike with me.
Aubree’Lynn Wolfe, 11, took the lead as we headed from the school toward the park’s baseball field, passing barking dogs in fenced yards. Farther down the street, the kids picked up snails and nestled them in flowers poking out from front gardens.
Osmany Guzman Torres, 13, is a budding (no pun intended) expert on plants. He pointed to different trees on our short walk to the park, including the pin oak, which I learned has leaves with pointy, pinlike edges that lend it its name.
“I just like trees,” Osmany said as he dug his hand into a bag of nacho cheese Doritos.
The kids briefly discussed where we should head, and soon we were swallowed by the shadiness of tall trees that fended off the 80-plus-degree heat.
The trails aren’t necessarily marked, so I was reliant on their sense of direction.
“We always find the most abandoned cars down that path,” Dominic Dillinger, 12, said as he pointed to a trail unfamiliar to me.
Less than five minutes into our hike, we came across a small turtle on the path, which excited the kids who hadn’t spotted one before. Aubree’Lynn offered it a nearby leaf, but maybe it would have preferred the pin oak leaf Osmany showed me earlier because it quickly tucked into its shell.
Heavy rain over the weekend had caused puddles and patches of slippery muck. Grooves from ATVs and dirt bikes didn’t help. We could still make out the raccoon and deer tracks in the mud, though. We also passed a couple of stacked mattresses with bright green moss growing along their edges.
At least two shells of abandoned cars were tucked behind trees. The white one had been there since at least spring break, Talerico said. The other had no tires or windows and looked like a dinosaur took a big bite out of the trunk.
“This is just sad to see,” Osmany said as he tugged on a low-hanging vine wrapped around a tree.
Farther on the same path, we spotted two more cars, stripped and missing engines. By the time Osmany offered me mulberries he’d picked, I had lost count of the old, rusted cars entangled in trees or partially submerged in water.
“It’s horrible because they’re ruining the environment,” Ariana Martinez Lovo, 12, said before she hopped on rocks in her Crocs to avoid the water.
But those blemishes didn’t derail the hike.
Throughout our walk, the kids pointed out their previous “sit spots” where, under the guidance of Talerico, they’d rest in silence for at least a minute to take it all in. Between debates about how to pronounce Tylenol, they gathered good rocks for skipping. Dominic’s record is seven skips, and Noah Garcia Davis, 12, is right behind with six.
“I’m so glad I didn’t get my nails done yesterday,” said Aubree’Lynn, who fashionably stained her lips with mulberries.
The sound of rushing water met us before the actual stream where dozens of plastic bottles greeted us like fake, crunchy sand at a beach.
“This whole park is really beautiful,” Talerico said. “We’ve done a good job of finding the beauty despite the dumping.”
Talerico tries to report dumping as the group comes across it, and she stays in touch with Friends of Herring Run Parks, a nonprofit focused on the conservation of the green space.
Misty Fae, executive director of the nonprofit, said cleanups have continued since we last spoke about the issue in 2024. A big cleanup this past Martin Luther King Jr. Day amassed nearly 5,000 pounds of trash, according to Fae.
“We’re here and ready to help. That’s the thing that frustrates me,” said Fae, who said she would love to see more collaboration with Baltimore City Recreation and Parks.
Lower Herring Run isn’t managed like parks such as Patterson Park or Druid Hill Park because it is forested parkland, Recreation and Parks said in a statement provided by spokesperson Manny Gonzalez.
Some parts of it are owned by others, including Baltimore Gas and Electric, and aren’t for public usage, according to the statement. People are encouraged to use the paved Herring Run Trail.
In the last few years, the park has used huge, wooden logs, bollards and guardrails to block some entrances in an effort to tamp down illegal dumping and ditching vehicles.
But it’s clear people are still getting in.
Fae thinks the city needs to provide more patrol options for the area. The parks department reinstated its park rangers program, but the small team patrols over 260 parks and green spaces.
As we made our way off the trail, the kids discussed their summer plans.
Aubree’Lynn is headed to summer school nearby. Ariana plans to go to Puerto Rico with her family. And Osmany is “getting swole,” he said of his anticipated workout plans.
The hiking group will open to elementary students next year, Talerico said, which means more kiddos will trek the trails.
It’s unfortunate that rusty cars and excessive junk continue to overwhelm lower Herring Run, but it’s inspiring to see how kids still benefit from all the beautiful park has to offer.
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