Cheltenham Wetlands Park

Well. Things started off quite sketchy. Google maps routed us along a road that cuts thru what looks like a secure DHS facility. We didn't go that way, and I hope no one freaked out because we drove up the road and then turned around. We bumped around on the roads that seemed to stick to the perimiter of the park and eventually came up Commo road from the south east end and found the park entry. There's not much sinage there, just a gravel lot and a path that looks more like a utility road than a pedestrian park trail. It isn't made any more inviting by the 6ft tall rusty barbed wire fence that walls you in as you walk along. But keep going! When the fence falls away on one side you find yourself in what you might have been expecting from a wetlands park. It's a wetland, birds, cat tails, beaver dams etc. There are built up paths that cut across and I assume encircle the marsh (or is it a bog?). We didn't actually go all the way around as the path became a bit overgrown. It shouldn't deter the average walker, but the other person in the "we" of this story is a 7 mo old. Yes, I take my 7 mo old along a sketchy barbed wire lined path into the woods. Totally worth it! We felt like we were out in the wilds though we were 40 min from DC. Nice park.