Mattawoman Natural Environment Area
Managed by Maryland Park Service
75 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
C+Outdoors
Outdoors in Bensville
9% of Bensville’s land is conserved: 934 acres
109 acres are parks and preserves, 6.9 per 1,000 residents. 30% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 4.6 miles of mapped trail cross Bensville, 0.3 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 43% of U.S. towns · #220 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Conserved land
9%
934 acres · of 16.9 sq mi of land
Trails
4.6 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
109 ac
6.9 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
30%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
7.6 mi
7.6 mi paths
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Bensville have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Bensville is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns, #220 of 261 in Maryland. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
C+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Bensville’s overall grade.
Conserved land9% of the land · typical MD town 9% · U.S. 4%B+Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · MD 0.5 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land6.9 acres of park per 1,000 residents (109 acres) · MD 9 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home30% of residents within a half mile of a park · MD 87% · U.S. 72%C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 43%
LessMore
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 16%
Maryland towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 9%; the U.S., 4%), so Bensville’s 9% is ahead of 48% of Maryland towns, while its trails per square mile lead 27% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Who protects it
934 conserved acres
9% of Bensville’s land. Who manages Bensville’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County1,504 ac
State natural resources75 ac
Private owners69 ac
State parks2 ac
Not recorded201 ac
Conservation Easement · 878 acForest Stewardship Easement · 685 acState Conservation Area · 136 acLocal Park · 107 acLocal Other or Unknown · 43 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 709 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 45 of 368 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bensville Park Local Park | Not recorded | 96 | Unknown |
| Mattawoman Natural Environment Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 75 | Restricted |
| Myrtle Grove Wma State Conservation Area | Not recorded | 62 | Unknown |
| Indian Head Rail Trail Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 43 | Unknown |
| Kingsview Community Center & Park Local Park | Private owners | 11 | Open |
Things to do
9 places to go in Bensville
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Bensville
9 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Biking & sports
7.6 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
7.6 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
18Tennis
8Baseball
3Soccer
1Football
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Bensville: April to June
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.7 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.2 | 14.3 | 14.8 | 14.6 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 45 | 48 | 57 | 68 | 76 | 84 | 88 | 86 | 80 | 69 | 58 | 49 |
| Rain (in) | 2.9 | 2.7 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 3.6 | 3.0 | 3.6 |
February is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 4.5 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Bensville →
Next door
Bensville and its neighbors
Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bensville | 9% | 0.3 | 7 | 30% | C+ |
| Accokeek | 32% | 0.8 | 182 | 26% | A− |
| Waldorf | 4% | 0.3 | 5 | 59% | C+ |
| Bryans Road | 25% | 0.4 | 155 | 37% | A− |
| Pomfret | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Bensville
Where can I hike in Bensville?
The longest trail networks: Bensville Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Bensville is conserved land?
9% of its land, against a typical 9% for a Maryland town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Bensville’s trails?
Mattawoman Natural Environment Area and Bensville Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Bensville?
7.6 miles of bike routes are on the map: 7.6 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Bensville?
16,999 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Bensville or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 109 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Bensville have?
Ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #220 of 261 in Maryland. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Bensville neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →