Baltimore County is encouraging residents to take advantage of beaches, concerts and other recreation activities close to home through a new tourism campaign.

Officials launched the promotion Thursday at Marshy Point Nature Center, a 400-acre park on a peninsula that juts into the Chesapeake Bay.

"We want to make it easier than ever for everyone to find lots to do right here in Baltimore County," said County Executive James T. Smith Jr., speaking from a pier while kayakers paddled on Dungee Creek.

The nature center is one of four in the county and is family friendly, said Beahta R. Davis, the county coordinator of natural resources.

"I learn something new every time I come here," Davis said.

Among Marshy Point's exhibits are crabs, turtles, frogs and doves, as well as Daisy, a foundling duck that quacks at arrivals, and Blossom, a docile opossum.

The center, just off Eastern Avenue in Middle River, offers motorboat rides, canoes, summer camps, story times, movie nights and nature walks. Visitors may spot herons, egrets and bald eagles.

More than 20,000 people work in the local tourism industry, and business is growing, officials said. Baltimore County attracted more than 5.2 million visitors, who spent more than $2 billion in 2008, the latest statistics available, officials said.

The county tourism department has posted a calendar with more than 200 free or nearly free events at http://www.visitbacomd.com and a flier highlighting 25 of those activities is available at libraries, senior centers and parks.

Most events launch as the school year winds down. Several venues open their live music Fridays tonight, including Feet on the Street at 6 p.m. on Allegheny Avenue in downtown Towson; Main Street Live at 6:30 p.m. in Hunt Valley Towne Center; and Party on the Plaza at 7 p.m. at The Avenue in White Marsh.

"After the winter we have just been through, we are all ready for summer fun," Smith said.