Trail descriptions may be written from many different perspectives. There's an equestrian's point-of-view, a geologist's, a mountainbiker's, a naturalist's and so on. In this section of our website, we have provided trail descriptions written from the viewpoint of a hiker.

They are written for the person who is out for a rather leisurely hike along Little Bennett Park's trails to take in their many interesting and beautiful sites along the way. We want to help trail users identify and interpret what they can expect to see along each trail. We hope this will lead to better understanding and appreciation of the Park's many natural resources, interesting history, and rare beauty as well as any potential threats to the Park's fragile ecosystem.

A few photos of each trail accompany its description.

Currently, over 20 miles of official Park-sanctioned trails traverse Little Bennett. Some of these trails are 'hiker-only' while others are 'multi-use' (open to hikers, bikers and equestrians). In the navigation column on your left note that 'hiker-only' trails are indicated by (H) while multi-use trails are noted by (HBE). See an interactive map of Little Bennett Park trails

No motorized vehicles are allowed on Little Bennett Park trails.

Ant Hills
A unique and fascinating aspect of Little Bennett Park is the occurrence of several rather large Allegheny Moundbuilder ant colonies in the Park, especially in its southwest quadrant along Moundbuilder, Bennett Ridge, and Owl Ridge Trails. These ants, whose distinctive hills can reach up to 4 or 5 feet in height, are rare in this region and unique in Montgomery County. We encourage visitors to stop and observe these hills when you come across them near the trails, but please do not walk, step on or put anything into these hills which are fragile and can easily be made inhabitable to the ants by careless abuse from Park visitors.

Non-native Invasive Plants

Non-native invasive plants (or NNIs) are plants that did not evolve in North American ecosystems and have become too successful at reproducing. They have been introduced into an environment that is free of the vast and complex array of natural controls present in their native lands (including herbivores, insects, parasites, and pathogens) that would otherwise limit their reproduction and spread here.

NNIs threaten native plants, wildlife, soils, and water regimes throughout Little Bennett and other county parks and have become a region-wide problem in recent years. Fortunately, with a couple of important exceptions, NNIs have not yet begun to invade Little Bennett's pristine forests and meadows to same degree that they have some downcounty parks. However, the Parks Department and Friends of Little Bennett have become quite active in trying to quell the growing NNI problem in this Park before it gets out of hand.

Presently, the two most prevalent invaders in Little Bennett are multi-flora rose and Vietnamese stiltgrass although garlic mustard may be on the verge of soon joining these other two on the Park's 'most unwanted' list. Other invasive plants that we are beginning to watch more closely before they get out of control are Japanese barberry and vines such as Oriental bittersweet and Japanese honeysuckle which can be particularly damaging to trees in the Park.

To learn more about and view photos of NNIs in Little Bennett, see the Non-Native Invasive section of our website. If you would like to learn more about getting involved in combating the growing NNI threat in the Park, contact us.

Little Yellow Stickers
Occasionally you can see small pieces of yellow tape with numbers or arrows on them in the Park. These help control and direct hunters during the annual deer hunt held in the Park in early December. Like non-native plants, deer too are a threat to the ecological balance of the Park. They tend to forage on many young trees and other vulnerable plants and threaten their survival.