A Beautiful Place to Live - Natural Areas & Trails

More than 27,000 acres of M-NCPPC-owned parkland, forests, open space, and stream valleys, along with thirteen special conservation areas (SCAs), highlight the breadth of the County’s environmental resources and natural places. The SCAs-areas of designated countywide significance are: 

  • Belt Woods
  • Beltsville Agricultural Research Center
  • Broad Creek
  • Cedarville State Forest and Zekiah Swamp Watershed
  • Greenbelt National Park
  • Jug Bay complex
  • Main stem of the Anacostia River
  • Mattawoman Creek Stream Valley
  • Patuxent Research Refuge
  • Patuxent River Corridor
  • Piscataway Park
  • Potomac River Shoreline
  • Suitland Bog

The County’s trail system, important both regionally and locally and over 90 miles long, crisscrosses the County and helps connect these environmental assets. Major trails include: 

  • Anacostia Tributary Trail System
  • Henson Creek Trail
  • Patuxent Water Trail
  • WB&A Trail
  • Woodrow Wilson Bridge Trail