View source for Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area

{{Use American English|date=June 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
[[Image:Soldiers-Delight-Walking-Path.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Soldiers Delight Natural Environmental Area]]
'''Soldiers Delight Natural Environmental Area''' is a nature reserve near [[Owings Mills, Maryland|Owings Mills]] in western [[Baltimore County, Maryland]], U.S.<ref name='MGS'>{{cite work|last=Conkwright|first=Bob|url=http://www.mgs.md.gov/esic/features/soldiers.html|title=Soldiers Delight Serpentine Barrens, Baltimore County|access-date=December 23, 2007|publisher=[[Maryland Department of Natural Resources]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112121709/http://www.mgs.md.gov/esic/features/soldiers.html|archive-date=January 12, 2008}}</ref> The site is designated both as a [[Maryland Wildland]] (1,526 acres) and as a [[Natural Environment Area (Maryland)|Natural Environment Area]] (1,900 acres) and is part of the [[Maryland Wildland|Maryland Wildlands Preservation System]]. The site's protected status is due to the presence of [[serpentine soil]] and over 39 rare, threatened, or endangered plant species along with rare insects, rocks and minerals.<ref name="MDNR">{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/central/soldiers.html
 |title       = Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area
 |access-date  = 2008-06-10
 |author      = Maryland Department of Natural Resources
 |author-link  = Maryland Department of Natural Resources
 |date        = August 15, 2007
 |publisher   = [[Patapsco Valley State Park]]
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20071210134004/http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/central/soldiers.html
 |archive-date = December 10, 2007
}}</ref>

==Amenities==
{{convert|7|mi|km|spell=In}} of hiking trails have been blazed at Soldier's Delight. While pets are permitted, equestrians and bicyclists are not, to protect the fragile terrain. A visitor center is open every day from 11am to 3pm. Attractions there include environmental education programs, live animals, and a letterboxing activity. Bowhunting is allowed from mid-November to the end of January with appropriate permits and a reservation.<ref name="MDNR-guide">
{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/central/soldiersguide.html
 |title       = Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area
 |access-date  = 2008-06-10
 |author      = Maryland Department of Natural Resources
 |author-link  = Maryland Department of Natural Resources
 |date        = August 15, 2007
 |work        = Trail Guide
 |publisher   = [[Patapsco Valley State Park]]
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20071210143105/http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/central/soldiersguide.html
 |archive-date = December 10, 2007
}}</ref>

==History==
The early [[Thirteen Colonies|colonial]] records of [[Province of Maryland|Maryland]] describe the area as a hunting ground for [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]]. In 1693, rangers in the King's service from a nearby [[garrison]] patrolled the area calling the land Soldiers Delight. In the 18th century, [[George II of Great Britain|King George II]] made gifts of [[land grants]] upon Maryland's earliest settlers in what was then Soldiers Delight Hundred.<ref name="MDNR-guide"/>

During the [[American Civil War]], Soldiers Delight was the scene of minor short-term fights<ref name="webster">{{WD1913 | title=Soldiers Delight}}</ref> between the [[Maryland in the American Civil War|Maryland Volunteers of the Confederate Army]] and the regular troops of the [[Union Army]]. After the Civil War and the emancipation of people who were enslaved, the great estates of the early families were reduced to many small farms and individual properties.<ref name="MDNR-guide"/>

==Geology==
[[Image:Serpentinite Soldiers Delight.JPG|right|thumb|Boulder of [[serpentinite]] at Soldiers Delight Natural Environmental Area]]
The area is mostly underlaid by [[serpentinite]], a rock that contains very little [[quartz]] and [[aluminium|aluminum]]-bearing minerals and consists mainly of [[Serpentine group|serpentine]]. Weathered serpentinite is dissolved rock, transformed into thin, [[sand]]- and [[clay]]-poor soil which is easily eroded. This creates a land surface which is stony, unfertile and sparsely vegetated and is the reason that the term "serpentine barren" is used to describe these areas. A typical serpentine barren contains a variety of grasses and sedges, [[Quercus ilicifolia|bear oak]], [[Virginia pine]] (an invasive species), [[Juniperus virginiana|Eastern redcedar]], [[grassland|grasses]] and some unique and rare wildflowers.<ref name='MGS'/>

Serpentine is valued as a decorative [[Dimension stone|building stone]], [[road]] material, and for this area in [[Maryland]], a historic source of [[chromium]] ore. [[Isaac Tyson]], a 19th-century businessman from Baltimore, was one of the first to make the connection between the occurrence of chromite and serpentine barrens. He began mining chromite here in 1827. During the 19th century, Soldiers Delight and the [[Bare Hills Historic District|Bare Hills]] district of [[Baltimore County, Maryland|Baltimore County]] were the largest producers of chrome in the world. In Maryland, [[chromite]], a significant accessory mineral in the serpentine, was mined until 1860. Several old [[Mining|mines]] and [[quarry|quarries]] are still visible in these serpentine barrens.<ref name='MGS'/>

==Soils==
The most common soil is Chrome silt loam, which occupies well-drained areas over serpentinite. In more moist settings Chrome grades to Travilah silt loam. Areas where serpentinite influence is weak or absent are limited in Soldiers Delight, but are easily recognized by their more luxuriant vegetation on the upland Manor loam or the floodplain Hatboro silt loam.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/gmap/ | title=Soilweb | website=casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of wildflowers of Soldiers Delight]]
*[[List of woody plants of Soldiers Delight]]
*[[List of graminoids of Soldiers Delight]]
*[[List of ferns and fern allies of Soldiers Delight]]
*[[List of lichens of Soldiers Delight]]
*[[List of parks in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area]]
* [[State Line Serpentine Barrens]]
* [[Serpentine Ridge Nature Preserve]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{Official website}}
*{{WDPA|374852}}
*{{EBird hotspot}}
<!--- {{cite web|url=http://www.bcpl.net/~sdci/sdci_history.html|title=Soldiers Delight Conservation -- History|access-date=June 10, 2008|date=August 7, 2007|publisher=Soldiers Delight Conservation, Inc.|url-status=dead}} : no archived copy available: https://web.archive.org/web/20110601000000*/http://www.bcpl.net/~sdci/sdci_history.html --->
*{{cite work
 | url = http://www.k9trailblazers.org/hike_areas/soldier.html
 | title = Soldier's Delight Natural Environment Area
 | access-date = June 10, 2008
 | date = August 7, 2007
 | work = K9 Trailblazers Hike Areas
 | url-status = dead
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160820084037/http://www.k9trailblazers.org/hike_areas/soldier.html
 | archive-date = August 20, 2016
 }}
*{{cite web
 | url = http://dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/Publiclands/Natural_Areas/SoldiersDelight.asp
 | title = Maryland Department of Natural Resources Soldier's Delight
 | access-date = January 23, 2016
 | publisher = [[Maryland Department of Natural Resources]]
 | url-status = dead
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151029110815/http://dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/Publiclands/Natural_Areas/SoldiersDelight.asp
 | archive-date = October 29, 2015
 }}

{{Maryland parks}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|39|24|58|N|76|49|49|W|region:US-MD_type:adm3rd|display=title}}

[[Category:Nature reserves in Maryland]]
[[Category:Protected areas of Baltimore County, Maryland]]
[[Category:Former mines in the United States]]
[[Category:Chromium mines]]
[[Category:Serpentine group]]