Patapsco Valley - Orange Grove

Ellicott City, MD

The Orange Grove section of Patapsco Valley State Park features the ruins of a 19th-century flour mill, the historic Bloede Dam, and a river valley full of mature trees and rapids.

Photography Guide

Best Time: golden hour
Crowds: Moderate
Shot Types: landscapewaterfallruins
Best Seasons: fallspring

Practical Tips

The Bloede Dam ruins in the river create interesting foreground. Fall leaf reflections in the pool below the ruins are extraordinary. Tubing here is popular in summer.

Gallery

Nearby Places

Architecture

Ellicott City, MD

Historic Ellicott City

One of the oldest mill towns in America clings to a steep granite gorge above the Patapsco River - 19th-century stone buildings and the oldest railroad station in the country.

golden hourfall · spring

Overlooks

Baltimore, MD

Federal Hill Park

The best free viewpoint of the Baltimore skyline rises 80 feet above the Inner Harbor - a grassy hilltop in a Federal-era neighborhood with postcard panoramas.

blue hourspring · fall

Architecture

Baltimore, MD

Fells Point Waterfront

Baltimore's oldest neighborhood mixes colonial cobblestones, 18th-century rowhouses, a working waterfront, and some of the most charming street photography opportunities in the region.

golden hourspring · fall