National parks in Maryland

A heron at sunset in the waters and marshes of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

100ESSENTIAL NPS Photo / Middleton Evans

National Historic Trail · VA

Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail

This is not a park you visit so much as a waterway you inhabit.

Rock formation with mountains in the background

100ESSENTIAL NPS Photo/Peggie Gaul

Park · MD

Catoctin Mountain Park

Catoctin Mountain Park is a free, four-season recreation area in the Maryland Blue Ridge that punches well above its modest footprint.

100ESSENTIAL Pride of Baltimore, Inc.

National Historic Trail · MD

Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail

This is not a trail you hike in a weekend.

99ESSENTIAL NPS Photo

National Seashore · MD

Assateague Island National Seashore

Assateague is one of the most activity-dense seashores in the entire national park system, and the fact that it charges no entrance fee makes it almost absurdly good value.

Silhouette of a man with backpack standing on McAfee Knob at sunset with mountains in the distance.

95ESSENTIAL Photo Credit: ATC/Benjamin Hays

National Scenic Trail · CT

Appalachian National Scenic Trail

Over 2,190 miles connecting Georgia to Maine, the Appalachian Trail is less a single destination than a lifetime of options.

luminaries placed by Maryland Monument with dramatic orange red clouds

93ESSENTIAL NPS Antietam/BBaracz

National Battlefield · MD

Antietam National Battlefield

Antietam is one of the most sobering acres in America.

The rushing river cascades over the rocks of the Potomac

90ESSENTIAL NPS photo

National Historical Park · DC

Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park

The C&O Canal is one of the most quietly underrated linear parks in the country.

Federal style house with trees behind it during the fall season.

83EXCELLENT NPS Photo

National Battlefield · MD

Monocacy National Battlefield

Monocacy punches well above its size.

78EXCELLENT NPS photo

Park · DC

Civil War Defenses of Washington

This is Civil War history you can bike through, picnic beside, and actually touch.

77EXCELLENT NPS Photo

National Historic Site · MD

Hampton National Historic Site

Hampton is not a comfortable visit, and it is not meant to be.

71EXCELLENT (NPS/CLaBarge)

Park · MD

Oxon Cove Park & Oxon Hill Farm

Oxon Cove is a genuinely underrated free stop just outside Washington DC, where a working farm doubles as a living history lesson.

67WORTH IT Tim Ervin

National Monument and Historic Shrine · MD

Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine

Fort McHenry punches above its modest acreage by anchoring one of the most consequential moments in American identity: the 1814 battle that produced the national anthem.

63WORTH IT NPS/G Wilson

Park · MD

Greenbelt Park

Greenbelt Park punches above its weight as a genuine forested retreat sitting just ten miles outside Washington DC.

61WORTH IT NPS Photo / Steve Dean

National Scenic Trail · DC

Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail

The Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail is less a single destination than a stitched-together corridor connecting DC, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia through one of the East Coast's most historically layered river valleys.

Entrance way into historic Fort Washington

59WORTH IT NPS Photo

Park · MD

Fort Washington Park

Fort Washington is a compact but genuinely rewarding slice of American military history sitting right on the Potomac, free of charge.

Stone Bridge Along the George Washington Memorial Parkway

59WORTH IT NPS

Memorial Parkway · DC

George Washington Memorial Parkway

The George Washington Memorial Parkway is less a destination park than a linear green corridor threading through one of America's busiest metro areas.

54NICHE NPS Photo / Stephen Girimont

National Historic Site · MD

Thomas Stone National Historic Site

Thomas Stone National Historic Site is a quiet, free window into one of the lesser-known signers of the Declaration of Independence, set on a Maryland plantation estate.

A view of docks and boats in the waterside town of Cape Charles VA

50NICHE NPS Photo

Park · DC

Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay Park is less a single destination than a coordinating framework across a massive mid-Atlantic watershed.

groups of families, adults and children strolling in Glen Echo Park near Carousel Building

44NICHE NPS Photo/Bruce Douglas

Park · MD

Glen Echo Park

Glen Echo is not a wilderness destination, full stop.

View of Lower Town Harpers Ferry as seen from Maryland Heights

44NICHE NPS Photo/Shenandoah Sanchez

National Historical Park · WV

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park

Harpers Ferry punches above its weight as a history destination.

Girl stands on a bridge overlooking the marshlands.

43NICHE NPS Photo

National Historical Park · MD

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park

This free park punches above its modest experience score because the subject matter is irreplaceable.

Building at National Colonial Farm at Piscataway Park

41NICHE NPS photo

Park · MD

Piscataway Park

Piscataway Park is a quiet, free escape on the Maryland shore of the Potomac, best understood as a fishing and boating destination with genuine tidal wetland scenery.

two and half story wooden frame house with double porch and stone corner posts.

35NICHE NPS Photo

National Historic Site · MD

Clara Barton National Historic Site

Clara Barton NHS is a tight, purposeful stop for anyone serious about Civil War history, humanitarian history, or the story of American women in public life.

33NICHE NPS / Rachel Hendrix

Park · MD

Fort Foote Park

Fort Foote is a quiet, overlooked Civil War remnant sitting on a bluff above the Potomac, and its low experience score is honest.

Gladys Noon Spellman sign on the Baltimore Washington Parkway

31NICHE NPS Photo

Parkway · MD

Baltimore-Washington Parkway

The Baltimore-Washington Parkway is essentially a functioning commuter highway with a National Park Service designation, and honesty demands you know that upfront.

Flowers on a tree with a large brick house in the background.

31NICHE NPS

Park · MD

Harmony Hall

Harmony Hall is a quiet, low-key green space on the Potomac River in southern Maryland, best understood as a birdwatching and wildlife corridor rather than a full park experience.

26NICHE NPS Photo

National Historic Trail · MA

Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail

This 680-mile corridor traces the 1781 march of Washington and Rochambeau from Newport to Yorktown, the campaign that effectively ended the Revolutionary War.