Piscataway Park | Boating & Fishing | Chesapeake Bay Gateways | Trails | Trees

Piscataway Park and the Accokeek Foundation

Two hundred years ago, George Washington described Mount Vernon by saying, "No estate in the United America is more pleasantly situated than this." Today, the breathtaking view of the Maryland fields and hillsides across the Potomac River look much as they did in Washington's time. The view from Mount Vernon will continue to be protected thanks to the Accokeek Foundation's efforts to develop a public-private partnership to create Piscataway Park. Piscataway Park, part of the National Park Service, was established in 1961 as a pilot project in the use of easements to protect parklands from obtrusive urban expansion. Today, Piscataway Park covers approximately 5,000 acres and stretches for six miles from Piscataway Creek to Marshall Hall on the Potomac River. The Accokeek Foundation stewards 200 of those acres in partnership with the National Park Service.

Hikers take in the Park's beautiful scenery.

A place of great natural beauty, Piscataway Park is home to bald eagles, beaver, deer, fox, osprey, and many other species. To complement the surroundings, the park has, in addition to a public fishing pier and two boardwalks over fresh water tidal wetlands, a variety of nature trails, meadows, and woodland areas, each with unique features.

Discovery Packs, self-guided educational kits, and birding kits (complete with field guides, binoculars, and a spotting scope) can be borrowed from the Visitor Center, and contain activities and information about the plants and animals found here. A picture I.D. is required in order to borrow these kits.

Piscataway Park is open from dawn to dusk daily. Please call 301.283.2113 for holiday or weather closing information.