What Hillside Park Took Out in Its First Year, and What It's Waiting to Put In

J. Denis Glover grew up in a brick ranch house on Indian Lane. A small stream ran below it, went underground and came back up on what was then the Baltimore Country Club golf course. In winter, he and his brother Gary sledded down the steep hill there with other boys from the neighborhood. He tells the story in the Fall 2026 issue of Roland Park News, and he calls the hill by its new name, Hillside Park.

The hill opened as a public park in July 2025, according to the park's events page. Residents gathered for the ribbon-cutting on October 11, 2025, according to Baltimore Fishbowl. That ended a 25-year effort by the Roland Park Community Foundation to buy 20 acres from the club, and foundation chair Mary Page Michel led the campaign that raised $9 million to do it. The park's own site calls it the largest park created in Baltimore City in more than 100 years, and also "a work in progress."

Most of the first year's progress came from taking things out. The biggest addition, a restored stream system, now depends on a federal and state permit calendar. That calendar makes summer 2027 the earliest possible start. Until then, the park you walk this fall is close to the park you'll walk next summer.

A Year of Subtraction

Over the winter, the foundation spent time and money on safety. It took out dead and dying trees and removed old fences, according to the Summer 2026 Roland Park News. The Fall issue puts the number at more than 50 fallen, dead and dying trees, and Michel says removing them made the space safer.

After that, the clearing reached the ground. One volunteer group pulled invasive plants and years of overgrown debris out of the North Meadow. If the North Meadow looks more open than it did when the park opened, that work is why.

Taking out the fences changed the park's edges, and not everyone sees that as a plus. A Fall 2026 Roland Park News column says that with the fences gone, unleashed dogs can run onto Hillside and Falls roads. It also says the heavy equipment used during environmental remediation pushed foxes and groundhogs onto nearby private property. The park's rules already cover the dog issue. Dogs must be leashed and under control, licensed with Baltimore City and vaccinated for rabies, and owners clean up after them, according to the park's Know Before You Go page.

Everything New Was Made From What Came Out

Almost nothing in the park this fall was brought in from somewhere else. The new amenities came out of the clearing.

According to the Summer issue, a volunteer group built a path through the woods along Hillside Road from wood chips and tree limbs left over from the winter tree removal. They also built three simple benches out of dead trees. A photo caption in the same issue credits Boy Scouts with building a path and benches.

The Fall issue says what happened to the rest of the felled trees. Stacks of trunks and wood chips stayed on site. Some trunks are being left in place as wildlife habitat, and others will become furniture made by Camp Small or will line trails and property lines. The park's site says its architect is working on accessibility plans. The Fall column adds that the park's design plans must put rewilding first and support biodiversity.

The park's Park Features page lists bigger items as possibilities, not plans. These include a playground or programmed play space, accessible paths, restrooms, picnic tables and a pavilion, all depending on budget and fundraising. None of them has a date yet.

The Stream Work Runs on a Regulator's Calendar

The one large project with money behind it is the stream restoration. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded the park a $2.1 million grant to restore its streams and build an environmental education program. The grant was funded in 2024.

The reason for the project has to do with Roland Park's own streets. About 88.5 acres drain into the park, mostly single-family homes and roads. Roland Park was built before stormwater rules existed, so little controls the runoff on its way to the streams. In her Fall article, Michel describes a stream corridor with deteriorating metal pipes, steep and unstable banks, exposed infrastructure including sewer lines, and many dead or dangerous trees. The design comes from Biohabitats, and Environmental Quality Resources (EQR) is preparing for construction. Parks & People is a partner as well.

Here is the timeline as it stands in mid-October 2026:

The newsletter and the park's site give two different July dates. The sources don't say whether those are two separate filings, and the full application is public on the park's NOAA application page for anyone who wants the detail.

What matters for a regular visitor is how the windows line up. If the permits arrive by June 2027, the first allowed start is after July 1, 2027. Because stopping and restarting construction is hard and expensive, the plan is one continuous push between July and the following March. Once it starts, EQR's work will include diverting the streams, removing invasive species, grading, installing grade control structures in the streams and planting native vegetation.

The permit work also turned up some history. The property has several wells once owned by the Roland Park Water Company, which supplied water to homes in North Baltimore. George Battersby, the Biohabitats project manager, describes the permit review as collaborative, with reviewers' comments improving the final design.

Using the Park in the Meantime

Since the next big change can't start before July 2027, here is how the park works now. It's open dawn to dusk. There's no restroom, and bikes, smoking, alcohol and loud music aren't allowed. The main entrance and the grass parking lot are at the corner of Falls and Hillside roads. You can also walk in at these spots:

• Fence openings along Hillside Road between Falls Road and Ivy Lane
• A fence opening along Falls Road near Harvest Road
• Several points along Plover Lane
• Several points along Edgevale Road

Without the car, buses 94 and 95 stop at the park's Falls Road entrance. The Roland Avenue and Upland Road stop and the Cold Spring Lane and Roland Avenue stop are each about a 10-minute walk. The Cold Spring light rail station is about 15 minutes away on foot.

The park's events page lists nothing for this fall. Its two programs from last year were on July 7 and October 11, 2025. The programs that did happen in 2026 were learning events. On April 15, the Maryland Climate Teach-In brought students from across Baltimore to Baltimore Polytechnic Institute for its closing celebration and spent half the day at the park. On April 26, the park held a BioBlitz with the National Aquarium and Greater Baltimore Wilderness. That fits the park's stated aim of being an outdoor classroom for the 15 neighborhoods within a mile of it. Questions about volunteering or the project go to [email protected].

The Same Small-Scale Approach, Out on the Streets

This fall, Roland Park's street plantings are getting the same gradual treatment as the park. A Roland Park committee is reviewing the green islands the Olmsted Brothers designed to slow traffic back in horse-and-buggy days, and some of them need refurbishing. Working with Roads & Maintenance, a gradual, modest replanting starts this fall, paid for partly by residents' maintenance fees. If you live near an island, the Fall issue asks you to help water the new plantings so they take hold.

While the stream permits sit with three agencies, the work Roland Park residents can join this fall is watering new island plantings and walking Hillside Park's paths built from its own fallen trees.

If you live near Hillside, Plover or Edgevale and you're wondering how the stream work and the park's progress might affect your street over the next few years, Jessica Dailey follows these projects closely. Request a Home Valuation and Concierge Consultation, and we'll talk about your home and the park next door.