Hike Location: Piscataway Park
Geographic Location: south of Fort Washington, MD (38.69455, -77.06531)
Length: 2.1 miles
Difficulty: 4/10 (Easy/Moderate)
Date Hiked: May 2018
Overview: A loop hike around a recreated 1770’s-era colonial
farm.
Park Information: https://www.nps.gov/pisc/index.htm
Directions to the trailhead: On the south side of
Washington D.C., take I-495 to Maryland SR 210 (exit 3). Exit and go south on SR 210. Drive SR 210 south 8 miles to Farmington Road
and turn right on Farmington Rd. Drive
Farmington Rd. southwest 1.8 miles to Bryan Point Road and turn right on Bryan
Point Rd. Bryan Point Rd. deadends at
Piscataway Park in 2.7 miles. Follow
signs to the Visitor Center, and park in the gravel lot in front of the Visitor
Center.
The hike: Perched
on the east bank of the Potomac River just south of Washington, little-known
Piscataway Park exists partly due to its location across the Potomac from Mount
Vernon, George Washington’s famous residence.
In the 1950’s, local residents became concerned that encroaching
development was threatening Mount Vernon’s famous view of the Potomac River. To ensure the view remained as natural and
historic as possible, in 1961 the federal government established Piscataway
Park to preserve the 6 miles of riverfront property between Piscataway Creek
and Marshall Hall in its natural state.
Operated by
the National Park Service in partnership with the Accokeek Foundation,
Piscataway Park is also the home of the National Colonial Farm, which was
established in 1957 to recreate a typical 1770’s tobacco plantation. Located adjacent to the Visitor Center, farm
tours are offered several times per day.
Perhaps surprisingly, very few people come to Piscataway Park or the
colonial farm, so this site is a great hiking destination for warm-weather
weekends when other D.C. area parks are packed out. During my visit on a nice Sunday afternoon in
mid-May, I did not pass another person on this hike once I got out of the
Visitor Center area.
Piscataway
Park offers nearly 5 miles of trails open only to hikers with loops on both the
west and east sides of the Visitor Center.
When I came here the day after a heavy rain, the trails east of the
Visitor Center were impassible due to mud and high water. Thus, this hike forms a loop using the trails
west of the Visitor Center, which includes a trip through the colonial farm.
 |
| Mount Vernon across the Potomac |
The hike
starts on the blue-blazed Riverview Trail.
Despite this trail’s name, the best Potomac River view on this hike is
actually from the fishing pier behind the Visitor Center. Thus, before heading out on the trail, take a
minute to walk out the fishing pier and look across the Potomac at Mount Vernon
atop the hill on the opposite bank.
 |
| Start of Riverview Trail |
After
taking in the river view, walk back toward the Visitor Center and turn right to
find the signed trailhead for the Riverview Trail. The grassy Riverview Trail heads west through
a narrow strip of natural area between the colonial farm on your left and the forested
riverside buffer on your right. Many
interpretive signs tell about the area’s flora and fauna, and one interesting
sign tells about what the natural buffer along the river does and how it works.
At 0.35
miles, you reach the western edge of the colonial farm. Follow the blue paint blazes as they turn
left and then right to leave the developed farm area. A large black rat snake slithered across my
path here, and I had to negotiate many wet spots in this area.
 |
| Leaving the developed farm area |
Just past 0.6 miles, the
orange-blazed Persimmon Trail exits left twice in quick succession. The Persimmon Trail forms a short 0.4 mile
loop around a small pond, and it could be tacked on if you wanted to extend the
hike. This description angles right to
stay on the Riverview Trail.
0.8 miles into the hike, you reach
the west end of the Riverview Trail and its intersection with the Bluebird
Trail, which goes left and softly right.
Angle softly right to continue heading east. The blazes for the Bluebird Trail are only a slightly
lighter shade of blue than the blazes for the Riverview Trail, so you may not
notice that you have changed trails unless you are paying attention.
 |
| Picnic table on Bluebird Trail |
The Bluebird Trail is somewhat
poorly defined, but if you keep heading east parallel to the river you will
soon reach a picnic table in a grassy area near the park’s east boundary. Unfortunately, like most of the trail system
the picnic table offers no river view.
Upon reaching the picnic table, backtrack a short distance to where the
east arm of the Bluebird Trail heads south away from the river beside a pasture
that is reverting to forest.
 |
| Reverting pasture on Bluebird Trail |
 |
| Start of Paw Paw Trail |
At 1.1 miles, you reach the southwest
corner of the Bluebird Trail’s loop. To
see all of the park’s habitats, angle right to begin the white-blazed Paw Paw
Trail, which is marked with a white sign.
The Paw Paw Trail leaves the Potomac River floodplain and climbs steeply
but only for a short distance into the broadleaf forest that dominates the
bluffs. Numerous paw paw bushes,
identified by their large leaves, line the trail, as does poison ivy and
stinging nettle.
The trail comes very close to
private property as it approaches the blufftop before angling left to begin
descending. At 1.5 miles, you exit the
forest and enter the park’s native tree arboretum, a grassy area that, as its name
implies, features numerous trees that are native to the region. Angle right to reach a gravel road, then head
north on the gravel road. When you reach
the park office, turn left onto another gravel road to return to the colonial
farm. The hike concludes with a walk
through the farm, which includes a tobacco barn, a smoke house, some cultivated
vegetable gardens, a pig pen, and a sheep pasture. The gravel road through the farm deposits you
at the Visitor Center where you started.
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| Tobacco barn at National Colonial Farm |
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| Marsh boardwalk |
Before you leave Piscataway Park,
there is one more short hike you should do.
Though not accessible by trail from the Visitor Center, the park
features a nice marsh boardwalk that offers good wildlife viewing and runs
along the bank of the Potomac River. To
reach the boardwalk, drive back out the entrance road and turn left on a gravel
road immediately before reaching the park entrance sign. Quickly you reach the small parking lot that
serves the boardwalk. The wooden boardwalk
leads 0.5 miles over a riverside marsh to a grassy camping area that also
serves as a canoe launch. Enjoy the
aquatic view and fresh breeze to end your visit to Piscataway Park.
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