Piscataway Park
Piscataway Park is located in Prince George's County, Maryland and encompasses 5000 acres of open fields, dense forests, and wetlands along the Potomac River directly opposite Mt. Vernon, the land and home of George Washington.
Within the park is the National Colonial Farm, an outdoor living history museum, established by the Accokeek Foundation in 1958 to educate people about life on a middle-class tobacco farm of 1775. Skilled interpreters lead tours of the National Colonial Farm, highlighting the colonial structures, fields, gardens and animals.
Visitors can also explore the Ecosystem Farm, an example of farming for the future. Here, the concepts of land stewardship and the production of high-value vegetable crops are of equal importance. The Ecosystem Farm provides a distinctive educational experience about the issues of food, land use and environmental protection in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Founded in 1957 to protect the view from Mount Vernon across the Potomac River, the Accokeek Foundation, an educational nonprofit, became one of the nation's first land trusts. Today, the Foundation stewards 200 hundred acres of Piscataway National Park in Accokeek, MD, where visitors can hike a network of trails winding through wetlands, visit a native tree arboretum, and observe an award-wining forest restoration project.
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Hours
Piscataway Park grounds are open from dawn to dusk.
National Colonial Farm Visitor Center Hours:
March 1 through November 30:Tuesday through Sunday 10 am-4 pm.
December 1 through February 28: 10 am-4 pm on weekends only.
Historic Farm and Buildings:
March 1 through November 30: Tuesday through Sunday 10 am -4 pm
December 1 through February 28: Closed.
The Accokeek Foundation administration office is open from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday.
Please call 301.283.2113 for holiday or weather closing information.
Farmington Landing, Accokeek Creek/Boardwalk and Marshall Hall areas are open during daylight hours.
(Note: Many places fill to capacity on busy, nice weather days, especially holiday weekends. Please call ahead or visit the official website to get the most up-to-date information before visiting.)
Activities
Fishing, Hiking, Wildlife Viewing: Piscataway Park is home to bald eagles, beavers, deer, foxes, ospreys, 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.
National Colonial Farm: Visitors can hike a network of trails winding through wetlands, visit a native tree arboretum, and observe an award-wining forest restoration project. The newly reconstructed boat dock offers stunning views of Mount Vernon and allows visitors to arrive by passenger boat and kayakers to access the Potomac via newly installed kayak launches The Foundation also runs the National Colonial Farm, a living history museum that depicts a Maryland middle-class family farm on the eve of the American Revolution.
Education and Tours: The Accokeek Foundation offers educational programs that supplement social studies and environmental education in the classroom. Through interactive experience-based tours, students examine the differences between past and present time, and learn how decisions about our daily lives can impact the environment. These programs help to show the effects of human interaction with the land while encouraging physical activity in an outdoor living classroom.
History
Founded in 1957 to protect the view from Mount Vernon across the Potomac River, the Accokeek Foundation, an educational nonprofit, became one of the nation's first land trusts. Today, the Foundation stewards 200 hundred acres of Piscataway National Park in Accokeek, MD, where visitors can hike a network of trails winding through wetlands, visit a native tree arboretum, and observe an award-wining forest restoration project.
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