LOCAL GOVERNMENT

PARKS & RECREATION

COUNTY PARKS

Allegany County
In Allegany County, more than forty County recreation areas offer sport facilities, playgrounds, picnic areas, and hiking trails. These areas are overseen by the Allegany Board of County Commissioners in cooperation with Community Resilience in the Department of Natural Resources.

Canada geese (Branta canadensis), Lake Waterford Park, Pasadena (Anne Arundel County), Maryland, November 2006. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

Anne Arundel County Dept. of Recreation & Parks
Anne Arundel County parks offer miles of hiking and biking paths, and paved walking paths. Other amenities include sport fields and courts, fishing, picnic areas, and playgrounds. Swimming is available at Mayo Beach Park (with permit). On the Severn River, Jonas Green Park has picnic sites.

Wooden donkey & pigs (left), July 2006, and Boy with chickens (right), January 2019, Kinder Farm Park, Millersville (Anne Arundel County), Maryland. Photos by Diane F. Evartt.

Baltimore City Dept. of Recreation & Parks
With approximately six thousand acres of parkland, the City of Baltimore operates a large number of parks and provides diverse recreational options: walking and bike trails, fishing, sports fields and courts, golf courses, picnic areas, two ice rinks, campgrounds, historic and natural areas, and swimming pools. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Druid Hill Park holds the Maryland Zoo, the Howard P. Rawlings Conservatory and Botanic Gardens, and Druid Hill Lake.

• Baltimore County Dept. of Recreation & Parks
  Baltimore County parks offer beaches and waterfront access, swimming, fishing, boat ramps, and picnic facilities. Not limited to waterways, the County also maintains playgrounds, sport fields and courts, hiking trails, and two educational parks. Cromwell Valley Park is an agricultural environment with three working farms, while Banneker Museum and Park has nature trails and the Banneker Museum.

Fishing boat, Chesapeake Beach (Calvert County), Maryland, June 2010. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

• Calvert County Parks & Recreation Dept.
  Calvert County provides visitors with beaches and nature parks. County maintained parks are sites for canoeing, fishing, hiking, and swimming. They also supply playgrounds, sport fields and courts, horse paths and facilities, and picnic areas.

  Opened in June 2010, the Edward T. Hall Aquatic Center at Prince Frederick (Calvert County) offers competition, leisure and therapy pools, as well as physical fitness programs.

Edward T. Hall Aquatic Center, 130 Auto Drive, Prince Frederick (Calvert County), Maryland, July 2014. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

• Caroline County Dept. of Recreation & Parks
  Besides maintaining sport fields and courts, playgrounds, and walking paths, Caroline County also cares for multiple community parks and five boat ramp locations.

Caroline County Dept. of Recreation & Parks, Gen. James F. Fretterd Community Center, 107 South 4th St., Denton, Maryland, August 2016. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

• Carroll County Dept. of Recreation & Parks
  In its parks, Carroll County provides paths and trails used for bikes, hiking, or horses. Fishing, sport fields and courts, playgrounds, boating, and picnic and nature areas also are found throughout the park system.

• Cecil County Dept. of Parks & Recreation
  Parks maintained by Cecil County offer sport fields and courts, playgrounds, picnic areas, and fishing.

• Charles County Parks & Grounds Division
  Charles County has a number of park facilities with bike and hiking trails, sport venues, canoeing, fishing, boat launches, playgrounds, and picnic areas. Equestrian facilities are available at Oak Ridge Park, and with membership at Maxwell Hall Park.

• Dorchester County Dept. of Recreation & Parks
  Dorchester County maintains a number of parks that offer fishing, playgrounds, and picnic areas. Great Marsh Park also provides access to a small beach and a boat launch.

• Frederick County Parks & Recreation Division
  Frederick County parks include hiking and walking paths, playgrounds, sport fields and courts, and a number of fishing and picnic areas. Creagerstown Park and Pinecliff Park both provide boat ramps, while Rose Hill Manor Park and Children's Museum offers the first rural hands-on history museum in the United States designed for elementary school-aged children.

• Garrett County
  Garrett County owns four park sites, and fifteen recreation facilities. The park locations are maintained in cooperation with local associations and civic groups, while the recreation areas are attached to public schools and colleges, and maintained by the Garrett County Board of Education.

• Harford County Dept. of Parks & Recreation
  Throughout the County, the Harford County Department of Parks and Recreation offers sport fields and courts, playgrounds, walking paths, and fishing and picnic areas. In Edgewood, a boat ramp also is available at Flying Point Park.

• Howard County Dept. of Recreation & Parks
  Howard County parks have sport fields and courts, hiking and walking paths, playgrounds, and picnic areas. Centennial Park gives access to fishing areas, and a boat ramp.

• Kent County Dept. of Parks & Recreation
  A number of public pools, picnic areas, sport facilities, walking trails, and playgrounds are maintained by the Kent County Department of Parks and Recreation. Kent County also offers fishing and a boat launch at Betterton Park, while Worton Park provides horse rings.

Montgomery County Dept. of Parks & Dept. of Recreation
With over 300 locations maintained by the Montgomery County's Department of Parks and Deartment of Recreation, the County provides sport facilities, picnic and playground areas, three ice rink facilities, hiking and biking paths, fishing, swimming, boating, canoeing, hiking and horse trails, as well as multiple golf courses.

Courthouse Square, Rockville (Montgomery County), Maryland, February 2002. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.

• Prince George's County Dept. of Parks & Recreation
  Parks maintained by the Prince George’s County Department of Parks and Recreation contain 90 miles of hiking and biking trails, horse trails, playgrounds, picnic and boating areas, fishing, and numerous sport facilities. Watkins Regional Park also offers a carousel, mini-train, and a mini-golf course. A unique experience in Maryland, Dinosaur Park, offers insight into what Maryland was like millions of years ago. With an information center open seven days a week, the Park also allows children and adults the opportunity to experience fossil hunting on the first and third Saturday of every month.

• Queen Anne's County Dept. of Parks & Recreation
  Throughout the County, Queen Anne's County operates parks with playgrounds, beaches, sport facilities, picnic areas, and walking and riding trails. The County also offers skate parks, nature parks, and the Cross Island Trail, which connects Terrapin Nature Park and Beach to the Chesapeake Exploration Center.

• St. Mary's County Dept. of Recreation & Parks
  St. Mary’s County parks have traditional recreational sites, such as beaches, playgrounds, picnic areas, and sport fields and courts. The County also maintains areas for hiking and fishing, and a “Sprayground”, a water-based play area for children at Nicolet Park.

• Somerset County Dept. of Recreation, Parks, & Tourism
  Maintaining a number of parks, the Somerset County Department of Recreation and Parks has facilities for fishing and picnicking, and runs sports fields and courts, playgrounds, and a beach at Raccoon Point Park.

• Talbot County Dept. of Parks & Recreation
  Parks kept up by Talbot County offer venues for fishing, walking trails, playgrounds, sport fields and courts, and picnic areas. The County also maintains a kayak launch at Back Creek Community Park, and a standard boat launch at Bellevue Community Park.

• Washington County Parks & Facilities Dept.
  Offering a wide variety of recreational options, Washington County has numerous parks, and recreation centers. The County provides picnic areas, bike and walking paths, playgrounds, and sport fields and courts. Boat ramps, and water access for canoeing and fishing also are accessible.

• Wicomico County Dept. of Recreation, Parks, & Tourism
  With abundant access to water, Wicomico County parks offer numerous boat ramps, beaches, and fishing areas, along with playgrounds, picnic areas, and hiking paths. Pemberton Park, an 18th century plantation near Salisbury, also is maintained by the County.

• Worcester County Dept. of Recreation & Parks
  With the only Maryland access to the Atlantic Ocean, Worcester County maintains a number of beaches and boat ramps. The Department of Recreation and Parks also provides nearly a dozen county parks, offering sports facilities, nature hikes, picnic areas, playgrounds, and walking paths.

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