Maryland Parks and Recreation Areas with Interpretive Programs

Picturesque Fort Washington sits on high ground overlooking the Potomac River and offers a grand view of Washington and the Virginia shoreline. Today, only one silent gun stands behind the masonry wall-the last armament of the powerful fort that once guarded the water approach to our Nation's Capital. The old fort is one of the few U.S. seacoast fortifications still in its original form.

Phone: (301)763-4600   Price Range: $3 - $5   Open Season: N/A   Camping: No
Nearest Popular City: Fort Washington   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: State Park   Activities: Biking / Bicycling, Birding, Fishing, Hiking, Wildlife Watching, Nature Walks, Interpretive Programs   Details Provided By: Fort Washington

The battle of Monocacy on July 9, 1864 between 18,000 Confederate forces under General Jubal Early, and 5,800 Union forces under General Lew Wallace, marked the last campaign of the Confederacy to carry the war into the north. One of the objectives of this campaign was to capture Washington, D.C.

Phone: (301) 662-3515   Price Range: N/A   Open Season: N/A   Camping: No
Nearest Popular City: Frederick   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Historic Site   Activities: Biking / Bicycling, Birding, Cross Country Skiing, Hiking, Auto Touring, Nature Walks, Interpretive Programs   Details Provided By: Monocacy National Battlefield

First thoughts of the Chesapeake Bay often bring up images of crabs and oysters. But, as the largest estuary in North America, the Chesapeake Bay has touched and influenced much of the American story, early settlement, commerce, the military, transportation, recreation and more. The Bay and its surrounding 64,000 square mile watershed hold a treasure trove of historic areas, natural wonders and recreational opportunities.

Phone: 1-888-BAYWAYS   Price Range: N/A   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes
Nearest Popular City: Annapolis   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: State Park   Activities: Backpacking, Biking / Bicycling, Birding, Boating and Watercraft, Fishing, Hiking, Hunting and Shooting, Kayaking, Swimming, Wildlife Watching, Auto Touring, Nature Walks, Interpretive Programs   Details Provided By: Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network

Bands of wild horses freely roam amongst plants and native animals that have adapted to a life of sand, salt and wind. Special thickened leaves and odd shapes reveal the plant worlds successful struggle here. Ghost crabs buried in the cool beach sand and tree swallows plucking bayberries on their southward migration offer glimpses of the animal worlds connection to Assateague.

Phone: 410-641-1441   Price Range: $3 - $10   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes
Nearest Popular City: Berlin   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Park   Activities: Biking / Bicycling, Birding, Boating and Watercraft, Fishing, Hiking, Horseback Riding, Hunting and Shooting, Kayaking, Swimming, Wildlife Watching, Nature Walks, Interpretive Programs, Star Gazing   Details Provided By: Assateague Island

The C&O Canal follows the route of the Potomac River for 184.5 miles from Washington, D.C. to Cumberland, MD. The canal operated from 1828-1924 as a transportation route, primarily hauling coal from western Maryland to the port of Georgetown in Washington, D.C. Hundreds of original structures, including locks, lockhouses, and aqueducts, serve as reminders of the canal's role as a transportation system during the Canal Era.

Phone: 301-739-4200   Price Range: $3 - $5   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes
Nearest Popular City: Hagerstown   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Park   Activities: Backpacking, Biking / Bicycling, Birding, Boating and Watercraft, Cross Country Skiing, Fishing, Hiking, Horseback Riding, Kayaking, Rock Climbing, Wildlife Watching, Nature Walks, Interpretive Programs   Details Provided By: Chesepeake and Ohio Canal

O say can you see, by the dawns early light, a large red, white and blue banner? Whose broad stripes and bright stars . . . were so gallantly streaming! over the star-shaped Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore, September 13-14, 1814. The valiant defense of the fort by 1,000 dedicated Americans inspired Francis Scott Key to write The Star-Spangled Banner. Regardless of the “rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air the defenders of Fort McHenry stopped the British advance on Baltimore and helped to preserve the United States of America, the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Phone: 410/962-4290   Price Range: $0 - $5   Open Season: N/A   Camping: No
Nearest Popular City: Baltimore   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Monument   Activities: Birding, Interpretive Programs   Details Provided By: Fort McHenry

In the 1930's, after years of making charcoal to fuel the iron furnace, mountain farming, and harvesting of trees for timber, land was purchased to be transformed into a productive recreation area; helping to put people back to work during the great depression. Beginning in 1935, the Catoctin Recreational Demonstration Area was under construction by both the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Phone: 301-663-9388   Price Range: N/A   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes
Nearest Popular City: Thurmont   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: State Park   Activities: Birding, Cross Country Skiing, Fishing, Hiking, Horseback Riding, Rock Climbing, Wildlife Watching, Interpretive Programs, Snowshoeing   Details Provided By: Catoctin Mountain

Greenbelt Park is a retreat from the pressures of city life and a refuge for native plants and animals just twelve miles from Washington, D.C.

Phone: 301-344-3948   Price Range: N/A   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes
Nearest Popular City: Greenbelt   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: State Park   Activities: Backpacking, Biking / Bicycling, Birding, Hiking, Horseback Riding, Wildlife Watching, Nature Walks, Interpretive Programs   Details Provided By: Greenbelt Park

The story of Thomas Stone is not just the story of man who signed the Declaration of Independence. It is about a peace loving man, who only after realizing he had no further options for peace, pledged his life, fortune, and sacred honor toward the vision of an independent America.

Phone: 301-392-1776   Price Range: N/A   Open Season: N/A   Camping: No
Nearest Popular City: Port Tobacco   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Historic Site   Activities: Birding, Hiking, Wildlife Watching, Nature Walks, Interpretive Programs   Details Provided By: Thomas Stone National Historic Site