The City of Gaithersburg has received final permit authorization from the Maryland Department of the Environment for the Blohm Park Trails project (18900 Watkins Mill Rd. next to the Montgomery Meadows neighborhood). The final site plans for this project, SP-9735-2024, will be presented to the Planning Commission on Wednesday, February 19, 2025.
This park itself was first dedicated on May 19, 2001, in honor of Richard Blohm– Parks & Recreation Director from 1970 – 1999. The site is passive and includes trails, bridges, and a gazebo. The Illustrative Trail Map depicts the various trail locations, the fair-weather stream crossings, the boardwalk overlooks, and seating areas that have been planned for the park project.
Per the City of Gaithersburg: The Department of Public Works is looking to create Trail Improvements at Blohm Park. The City is looking to add a boardwalk and raised overlook as part of the project. The overlook will go from the central park area down towards Whetstone Run. The City is looking to have an engineering firm determine if/where fair weather crossings could be installed. The crossing would be designed so that during normal stream elevations would allow for the fair weather crossing to be utilized.
The City has met with Maryland Department of the Environment regarding the improvements and will review engineering design plan at permit stage after the selected consultant has completed their design.
The City plans to achieve trail improvements at Blohm Park in three (3) phases. The first phase will be to restore the natural trail on the eastern side of Whetstone Run. A second (2nd) phase will be for the incorporation of stream/channel crossings and inclusion of a board walk and overlook. The third (3rd) phase would be a stream crossing to be installed upstream of the existing stormwater pond.