Baltimanual :: Sports and Recreation

With its sprawling scraggly parks and sparkling new arenas, Baltimore has outdoor opportunities for the sporty and the fan alike. Cheering on the O's may be easier than biking through the back hills of Druid Hill Park, though, depending on whether you have more physical or emotional stamina.

Above: Ravens fans pack the stadium parking lots before games on Sunday. Left: Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Professional sports

As much as locals like to rag on the on-again, off-again Ravens (baltimoreravens.com) and the perpetually feeble Orioles (baltimore.orioles.mlb.com), ask a native about where they were on March 28, 1984, and you'll soon get a story about how the Baltimore Colts, the city's storied football franchise, left for Indianapolis in the dead of night without warning. This trauma gives fandom here an edge it doesn't have in other cities, with the sports-obsessed using the winter--with no local basketball or hockey to follow'-to kvetch about management decisions. It's a long climb down to the minor leagues, but if you want to watch soccer (Baltimore Blast [baltimoreblast.com] for indoor, Crystal Palace for outdoor [crystalpalaceusa.com]) or indoor football (Baltimore Mariners [baltimoremariners.com]), there are plenty of tickets to be had. On the third Saturday in May, the city musters up what remains of its interest in horse racing for the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown, at Pimlico Racecourse (pimlico.com). The rest of the time the track is home to off-site betting and a handful of local races, though the fate of the track and the Preakness are uncertain amid financial woes. The Charm City Roller Girls (charmcityrollergirls.com), members of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association, skate yearlong against teams from all over the country at the Clarence "Du" Burns arena in Canton, with regional and national playoffs in the fall.

Running trails

For runners, Baltimore is a tale of two cities, with the neighborhoods surrounding the harbor often barren of any shade at all while those close to the county line are sidewalk paradises of curvy, low-traffic streets and trees, trees, trees. If you happen to be in one of the former neighborhoods, the city offers a few park alternatives. The Stony Run Trail (stonyruntrail.com) in North Baltimore is your best bet if you want to get off the pavement, with about five miles of trail that runs from University Parkway to Northern Parkway. For those by the water, the Waterfront Promenade (waterfrontpartnership.org/promenade_home.aspx) runs along the Inner Harbor for more than seven miles, and on the south side Fort McHenry (nps.gov/fomc) provides a nice perimeter trail.

Bike trails

Biking in Baltimore is getting safer every year, but the city still suffers from a lack of marked bike lanes on its main roads (see the Transportation section). For recreational biking, the hilly north-south Jones Falls (jonesfalls.org) and east-west Gwynns Falls (gwynnsfallstrail.org) trails are both smart paved alternatives to the streets, with the 15-mile Gwynns Falls Trail the wilder, longer, and more remote ride, particularly by the time you get to Baltimore County. There's also the Waterfront Promenade, but be prepared for tourists wandering into your path. If you're looking for a carefree riding day, try the flat packed gravel North Central Railroad Trail (dnr.state.md.us/greenways/ncrt_trail.html) north of the city, which goes all the way to Pennsylvania, or if you're south of the city, the 12.5-mile BWI Trail (dnr.state.md.us/greenways/bwi_trail.html) around the airport or the misnamed 13-mile Baltimore and Annapolis Trail (dnr.state.md.us/greenways/ba_trail.html) that actually connects Annapolis and Glen Burnie.

Tennis

Baltimore doesn't lack for tennis courts-there are 40 between Clifton (2701 St. Lo Drive, [410] 396-6101), Druid Hill (900 Druid Park Lake Dr., [410] 396-0730), and Patterson (200 S. Linwood Ave., [410] 276-3676) parks (ci.baltimore.md.us/government/recnparks)-but pickier players eye courts at private schools and universities for smoother playing surface. The clay courts at Clifton and Druid Hill Parks have lights, making it possible to play after work in the fall and winter.

Golf

The influence of Frederick Law Olmsted on Baltimore's parks is most evident in the city's five municipal golf courses (bmgcgolf.com). Well-maintained and inexpensive, the courses allow you to see parts of parks that you would not otherwise encounter. Mount Pleasant (6001 Hillen Road, [410] 254-5100) is the most difficult of the five, while Clifton Park is the most forgiving.

Bowling

Bowlers in Bawlmer aim for duckpins, playing a game that reduces the scale, if not the difficulty, of standard 10-pin bowling. For classic frames, try Patterson Bowling Center (2105 Eastern Ave., [410] 675-1011, pattersonbowl.com) in East Baltimore. If the lines are long, head north to Stoneleigh Duckpin Bowling Center (6703 York Road, [410] 377-8115, stoneleighlanes.com) or stay downtown for Mustang Alley (1300 Bank St., [410] 522-2695, mustangalleys.com) a gussied-up alternative to the others that features duckpin and 10-pin bowling.

Swimming

The summer swim season in Baltimore is short (mid-June to early September) but sweet, with several Olympic-sized pools in the city (Patterson Park and Druid Hill do the best job dividing the swimmers from the splashers) as well as smaller neighborhood wading pools (the Roosevelt Park pool in Hampden is particularly pleasant). The park pools (ci.baltimore.md.us/government/recnparks/aquatics.php) are $1.50 a visit, or $25 for the season, while the wading pools are a little less. If you're more adventurous, head north to Gunpowder Falls State Park (dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/central/gunpowder.html) for a variety of water opportunities, from the beach in the Hammerman area to countless unofficial swimming holes and tubing runs along the Gunpowder Falls.

Sailing

Now that the Inner Harbor is more known for pleasure boats than container ships, it's easy for sailors and rowers to perfect their skills without fear of being run over by a tugboat, though the smell and debris still make it not for the faint of heart. The Downtown Sailing Center (1425 Key Highway, Suite 110, [410] 727-0722, downtownsailing.org), the Canton Kayak Club (801 Lancaster St., [410] 625-1700, cantonkayakclub.com), and the Baltimore Rowing Club (3301 Waterview Ave., [410] 355-5649, baltimorerowing.org) offer classes and allow members to take out boats.