Centennial Park

It was the first day of spring when the weather was good, drove there and the parking lot was full. It was so crowded, they won’t open other places for parking, ridiculous !

This is a great park to go for a run/​walk as well as to spend a weekend with your family outdoors. You could run around the lake which is about a 2.4 mile loop. If you’re into picnics and grilling, you could get a pavilion to hang out with your friends and family. Over the summer, you could rent a boat and go fishing on the lake. Some weekends, they hold athletic events in the mornings such as Columbia Triathlon, Iron Girl etc. but it’s still open to public these times. Also, they have amazing sunsets! My favorite park in Howard County!

love coming here for a run, to walk the dog, etc

I absolutely adore parks, and Centennial Park was no exception. There is something for everyone at this park, including picnic pavilions, playgrounds, rental boats, tennis courts, and more. There are plenty of walking trails used by many visitors, including joggers and people walking their puppies.
At the center of the park is the lake, for which rental canoes and kayaks are available depending on the season. I have kayaked here a couple of times, and have thoroughly enjoyed my experience kayaking each time. A kayak can be rented for $ 10/​hour, with an additional $ 10 deposit that will be returned upon the return of the kayak. The boat rental place only accepts cash, so remember to bring enough for the rental and the deposit. An hour rental should be a sufficient amount of time to visit most of the parts of the lake. Some sections of the lake were unfortunately closed off to rowers due to dense algae, but despite the algae, the views of the lake were beautiful and many wildlife can be spotted.
Centennial Park is a perfect place to visit for a breath of fresh air. Its only major flaw is its lack of interesting hiking trails for avid hikers.

One of my favorite things to do is to explore parks and enjoy the scenery that each park offers. These types of places have become even more of a gem to me ever since I started living in the city, where green grass and trees are rare.
I had a craving for boating one day and found that Centennial Park offers boat rentals at a competitive price of $ 10/​hour for anything, including canoes, kayaks, and rowboats. My family decided to rent a canoe and a kayak. The service was great — they held $ 10 cash + drivers license for a deposit per boat, and we were given life jackets /​oars. The lake itself is pretty large and has lots of nooks to explore by boat. You can row close to the little islands and say hi to the little bugs flying on top of water. You can also look into the slightly murky water and try to find fish. Air is also very nice and fresh. The only warning I have is if you have never canoed before, to approach that type of boat with caution. Though they may look cute and romantic, they definitely provide some trepidation with balance (especially compared with other boats) that we did not expect.
There are also nice trails around the lake, where children bring fishing poles to try to catch some fish. I have yet to see anyone catch anything more than a leaf, but it is cute to watch many people gathered on a dock trying to fish.
Overall, I highly recommend for nature-​lovers, lake-​lovers. Very family friendly. Bring cash for boats! Bring fishing pole for kids!

I like to fish here and sometimes walk/​run with the family. A lot of stuff to do, but the people hauling butt on bikes crack me up. I don’t think these is ever a visit where a bike doesn’t fly by yelling on the left or something. Oh well. There is plenty to look at when it starts getting warmer. So for people watching it is great too. It also gets very busy during those times.

I truly love it here. I love the atmosphere. this is a great park to come to. So much to do, from getting your soccer game on to walking and running around the lake. Love watching the ducks and being able to sit on the benches and take in the scenery. Very peaceful and tranquil. You don’t see trash or cigarette butts laying around. This park is very well maintained. I especially love the fact that its 10 minutes from my house. If you want to have a gathering or a function this the spot. During the summer they have paddle boating and other events like concerts.

Really nice park. Slightly over a 2 mile loop around the beautiful lake. The entire loop is paved and well maintained.
The only problem is during the summer there are some small flies close to the water that may be bothering but other than that i love this park!

I love it here. So clean! Very peaceful and relaxing. Will definitely be visiting again. May even hop on a boat

So much to do here — great park area and best place for a walk

The best park in Howard County, Maryland!

I love coming to this park, but there are a few issues. The single kayaks are not very uncomfortable, especially if you’re looking to be out for over an hour. They are unstable and you feel like you could easily tip over. If you have the gear, bring it instead.
Most of the area was covered by fisherman by 1pm and soon began to feel like you’re stuck in rush hour traffic. Definitely a good idea to come as soon as the rental place opens.
The last time I went here, we had a disheartening encounter with 3 individuals (grown individuals I might add) who were terrorizing ducks. They were cornering the poor duckies with their kayaks while poking them with their paddles. I was disturbed and couldn’t enjoy my day out while witnessing this, I began to politely yell out for them to leave the wildlife alone. The male quickly responded with «shut up lady» and the two ladies that were with him told me to «mind my own business» and that «my life must be very boring.» I headed back to the rental area and let the workers know. they told me they do not condone this behavior so they sent out a park ranger out to them.

Paddle boating is great, did a 5K and a few nature hikes here– it was nice. The kids love it!

Super clean park with a great child’s playground! They have a burger place on the water and a rental area where you can get a kayak or canoe. I am a huge enthusiast of the running trail here and continue to do all the 5k events.

This place is a wonderful way to get your exercise in and see a beautiful view all together. Very nice for families, kid’s reunions. .kayaking and they have alot of playgrounds and quite a few pavilions. I must have easily walked 3 miles just going around the park near the water. So if you love the outside scenery and need to get your exercise in stop on by.

Very large beautiful park, pretty clean and very well kept. Also well laid out, it was really nice that we didn’t have to back track during our walk as all the paths conveniently circled around or interconnected to provide alternative routes. Looked at the other reviews before we came. Bathrooms are plentiful, in one area (near pavilion ‘F’) there were the 2 portapotties, otherwise they could be found in a pavilion like facility nearby the larger attractions (i.e. the playground, boat rental).
The playground was awesome, tons of things for the exuberant climber. Keep little ones in arms reach, as it’s geared more towards older kids for solo play.
We came on a Tuesday, Veteran’s Day, quiet peaceful not crowded. Also off season, so the boat rental place was closed. The amphitheater looked nice, will have to come back to check it out when it’s in use.
Didn’t get to explore/​do everything, but definitely want to come back and walk more paths, play at the playground some more with the kids, picnic, rent some boats, and fish. :)

Drove from Odenton based on the Unilocal reviews. It’s a beautiful park with a fantastic kids playground, lake, and walking trails (in other words, it’s huge!). You can even rent boats/​paddle boats per half hour. We spent a decent amount of time at the playground. It’s huge, but geared towards kids 4+ years old. A lot of the «obstacles» are pretty high up and may be too tall for younger kids. The ground is rubberized and super soft. If I was a kid, I’d like to take a spill on it just to test it out. We came on a Monday and there were about 10 other kids running around, but I could see this place being ridiculously packed on weekends. The unfortunate highlight of our trip was when some Hispanic guy yelled, «OH F!!!» when his fat butt got stuck on a slide. The entire park got really quiet and one mother yelled, «excuse me!» I thought it was about to go Jerry Springer up in here but it didnt. The moral of the story is, it’s a really nice place but there are definitely some trashy folks here. We will definitely be back and hope to avoid any more vulgar language around our kids.

This is the best park in the area. It’s got everything in one location.
Just don’t forget there are multiple entrances; see what entrance you like!
Tip: Cherry blossoms are visible at peak season!!! (Great for those who do not want to get stuck in the gross traffic in Washington, DC)

This place is absolutely gorgeous. Especially during the fall! I love going here for some walks on the trails, sitting back by the lake and taking in the scenery, kayaking, sitting on the grass reading, and even inviting people for a potluck lunch! This place is clean, beautiful scenery, and cool building architectures. Family friendly!

This place is so hot right now. Forgive the Zoolander reference. But you have to go… NOW.
It’s peak time for autumn scenery and if you want those romantic, dreamy fall pictures you better get yourself out there in the next few days because the leaves have turned red and are falling as we speak.
Take your dog, your kids, your family, and for goodness sake, don’t forget to take your camera. Go before 4:30pm these days. Because there are so many trees, it feels darker after that time, even though pictures on the iphone still turn out pretty good until about 5ish.