Piscataway Creek Stream Valley Park
Managed by Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission
430 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Chapel of the Incarnation · Photo: Pubdog at en.wikipedia · Public domainAOutdoors
Outdoors in Brandywine
19% of Brandywine’s land is conserved: 2,551 acres
564 acres are parks and preserves, 46 per 1,000 residents. 83% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 12 miles of mapped trail cross Brandywine, 0.5 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 88% of U.S. towns · #46 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Conserved land
19%
2,551 acres · of 21.0 sq mi of land
Trails
12 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
564 ac
46 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
83%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.0 mi
3.0 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Brandywine?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Brandywine have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Brandywine is ahead of 88% of U.S. towns, #46 of 261 in Maryland. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, trail miles lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Brandywine’s overall grade.
Conserved land19% of the land · typical MD town 9% · U.S. 4%ATrails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (12 mi) · MD 0.5 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land46 acres of park per 1,000 residents (564 acres) · MD 9 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home83% of residents within a half mile of a park · MD 87% · U.S. 72%B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 88%
LessMore
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 83%
Maryland towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 9%; the U.S., 4%), so Brandywine’s 19% is ahead of 85% of Maryland towns, while its trails per square mile lead 51% of them.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. 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.
L P Cosca Regional Park
Nature preserve
45 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
2,551 conserved acres
19% of Brandywine’s land. Who manages Brandywine’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County2,642 ac
Regional agency202 ac
State natural resources128 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government86 ac
State conservation53 ac
Other state land6 ac
Not recorded994 ac
Forest Stewardship Easement · 1,440 acConservation Easement · 1,415 acState Other or Unknown · 725 acLocal Park · 256 acLocal Other or Unknown · 212 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 1,375 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 107 of 329 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piscataway Creek Stream Valley Park State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 567 | Unknown |
| Boys Village - Cheltenham State Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 415 | Unknown |
| Pleasant Springs Park Local Park | Regional agency | 66 | Open |
| Dyson Road Park Local Park | Regional agency | 46 | Open |
| Rose Creek Connector Trail Local Park | Regional agency | 31 | Open |
| Savannah Drive Park Local Park | Regional agency | 28 | Open |
| Police Fire Arms Range, Dyson Road Local Park | Regional agency | 21 | Open |
| Floral Park Road Park Local Park | Regional agency | 11 | Open |
| Cheltenham Acres Neighborhood Park Local Park | Not recorded | 7 | Unknown |
| Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Property Property - Heatherwick Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 3 | Unknown |
3 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
14 places to go in Brandywine
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Brandywine
14 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Biking & sports
3.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
3.0 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
6Tennis
2Baseball
1Basketball
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 Brandywine: 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 | 14.9 | 14.6 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.5 |
| High (°F) | 44 | 48 | 56 | 68 | 76 | 84 | 88 | 86 | 79 | 69 | 58 | 48 |
| Rain (in) | 3.0 | 2.7 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 3.7 | 3.1 | 3.7 |
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 Brandywine →
Next door
Brandywine 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandywine | 19% | 0.5 | 46 | 83% | A |
| Clinton | 11% | 0.9 | 11 | 73% | A− |
| Rosaryville | 40% | 1.9 | 119 | 96% | A+ |
| Accokeek | 32% | 0.8 | 182 | 26% | A− |
| Waldorf | 4% | 0.3 | 5 | 59% | C+ |
| Cedarville | — not graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town | ||||
| Croom | 29% | 1.0 | 1,230 | 44% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Brandywine
How much of Brandywine is conserved land?
19% 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 Brandywine’s trails?
Piscataway Creek Stream Valley Park and Brandywine Area Recreation Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Brandywine?
3.0 miles of bike routes are on the map: 3.0 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Brandywine?
20,712 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Brandywine or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 564 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Brandywine have?
Ahead of 88% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #46 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 Brandywine 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 →