Photo: Jcantroot, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
The prime visitor attraction here is the Wildlife Drive, which visitors can drive, walk and cycle on in order to get close to the local wildlife. In addition, the Refuge has four land trails and three paddling trails, as well as hunting/fishing/crabbing opportunities. Finally, the Refuge staff and volunteers also offer a variety of environmental educational opportunities for young people at both the Refuge Visitor Center and also at the Refuge environmental education building, located at the entrance to the Wildlife Drive. If you are in the mood to see a bald eagle soaring over the Chesapeake wetlands, this is the place.
The Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1933 as a waterfowl sanctuary for birds migrating along the critical migration highway called the Atlantic Flyway. The refuge is located on Maryland's Eastern Shore, just 12 mi (19 km) south of Cambridge, Maryland in Dorchester County, and consists of over 28,000 acres (110 km2) of freshwater impoundments, brackish tidal wetlands, open fields, and mixed evergreen and deciduous forests. Blackwater NWR is one of over 540 units in the National Wildlife Refuge System, which is managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
National monument to Harriet Tubman, abolitionist, suffragette and the best-known conductor on the Underground Railroad for having led seventy former slaves to freedom. (38 0 26'N, 76 0 07'W)
formerly Choptank River Fishing Pier
A pedestrian fishing pier parallels Route 50 across the Choptank river on the north side of Cambridge. You can enter the park on either side of the river but the pier is not continuous, so you can't walk all the way across the river. The pier spans 1 mile on the northern side and 1/2 mile on the southern side of the river. Fishing and crabbing are the main attractions, but there are picnic areas and sandy beaches (no swimming.)