About Us

Gary Arthur, Director

About Us

When Forbes Magazine announced that Howard County had made its top-20 list of “Best Places to Raise a Family,” they mentioned outstanding parks and recreation programs. Not long after, Money Magazine also ranked Columbia and Ellicott City as one of their “Best Places to Live” and agreed that our open space, parks, lakes and recreational amenities helped earn our spot on the list.

The Howard County Recreation & Parks Department and our full-time and part-time staff of 688 dedicated individuals are proud of our role in enhancing the quality of life of our residents. We are responsible for the stewardship of 8,800 acres of public lands, the maintenance and operation of more than 56 parks, and we present over 5,000 recreation programs that were enjoyed by 106,000 participants in the past year alone.

We also enjoyed the involvement of our many volunteers, community members who contributed some 249,658 hours of their time – the equivalent of $5,110,500 in wages and salaries.

Our parks have played host to local, regional and national events like the Columbia Triathlon, Iron Girl Triathlon, Cherrybration, and numerous sports tournaments. We also sponsored events like July 4th Fireworks, Sunset Serenades, Sunday in the Park and Wine in the Woods, which drew a crowd of over 21,000 this year.

Our Mission

Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks uses a TEAM approach to provide a high quality recreation and parks system that promotes opportunities for all Howard County residents to pursue safe and enjoyable leisure activities in balance with the protection and conservation of natural resources.

Our Vision

As a nationally accredited Department of Recreation & Parks, to promote the health and well being of the community by providing recreation and leisure programs and services for residents of all ages and abilities and to serve as model stewards of the environment by wisely managing, protecting and conserving our natural resources.

Accreditation

Howard County Recreation & Parks is accredited through the Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA). To achieve accreditation, the department was required to meet over 150 standards covering all operations contained in leisure services. These professional standards serve as an aid for improving performance and maintaining quality. They provide park and recreation agencies with an ability to evaluate their operation, while achieving and maintaining a high level of efficiency and effectiveness. Howard County Recreation & Parks achieved accreditation in 2001 and reaccreditation in 2006.