Great Marsh Park
Managed by City of Cambridge
18 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Pine Street Neighborhood Historic District · Photo: Daniel L. Brandewie · CC BY-SA 3.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Cambridge
13% of Cambridge’s land is conserved: 859 acres
The biggest trail networks: Great Marsh Park (0.5 mi), Sailwinds Park (0.5 mi). 7.7 miles of mapped trail cross Cambridge, 0.7 per square mile of land. 85% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 80% of U.S. towns · #87 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Conserved land
13%
859 acres · of 10.6 sq mi of land
Trails
7.7 mi
0.7 per sq mi of land
Park land
187 ac
14 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
85%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
6.3 mi
1.1 mi lanes · 1.1 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
2 beaches · 5 boat launches
What kind of outdoors town is Cambridge?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Cambridge have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Cambridge is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #87 of 261 in Maryland. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; conserved land ranks highest, park acres per resident lowest.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Cambridge’s overall grade.
Conserved land13% of the land · typical MD town 9% · U.S. 4%A−Trails0.7 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (8 mi) · MD 0.5 · U.S. 0.4B+Park land14 acres of park per 1,000 residents (187 acres) · MD 9 · U.S. 13BParks close to home85% 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 80%
LessMore
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 67%
Maryland towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 9%; the U.S., 4%), so Cambridge’s 13% is ahead of 68% of Maryland towns, while its trails per square mile lead 61% of them.
Water is 18% of Cambridge’s area (2 of 13 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 10%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ 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
The longest trail network is Great Marsh Park, with 0.5 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Blackwater Area - East
Managed by Maryland Forest Service
433 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Blackwater Area - West
Managed by Maryland Forest Service
275 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
All 10 parks & preserves
Great Marsh Park18 acres · 0.5 mi of trail · City of Cambridge
DirectionsSailwinds Park16 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
DirectionsBlackwater Area - East433 acres · Maryland Forest Service
Blackwater Area - West275 acres · Maryland Forest Service
Snows Turn Park98 acres
J. Edward Walter Park5 acres
Long Wharf Park3 acres
East Cambridge Park3 acres
Chesapeake Forest2 acres · Maryland Forest Service
Cornish Park1 acres
DirectionsWho protects it
859 conserved acres
13% of Cambridge’s land. Water is left out: Cambridge has 10.6 square miles of land and 2.3 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Cambridge’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources282 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government127 ac
Town or city6 ac
Joint5 ac
Other state land5 ac
County3 ac
Not recorded712 ac
State Resource Management Area · 988 acLocal Park · 136 acUnknown Easement · 5 acHistoric or Cultural Easement · 5 acConservation Easement · 4 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 10 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 6 of 19 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chesapeake Forest Lands State Resource Management Area | Not recorded | 987 | Unknown |
| Egypt Road Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 95 | Open |
| The Great Marsh Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 17 | Open |
| Amercian Legion Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 6 | Open |
| Lp5014 Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 5 | Open |
| Cambridge Long Wharf Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Dorchester County Pool Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 3 | Open |
| East Cambridge Park Local Park | County | 3 | Open |
| Dorchester County Historical Society Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 2 | Unknown |
| Calvin Mowhray Park Local Park | Town or city | 2 | Open |
1 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
16 places to go in Cambridge
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Cambridge
2 beaches without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Playgrounds in Cambridge
9 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Boat launches in Cambridge
Little Blackwater soft accessIn Blackwater Area - East
DirectionsPlus 4 boat launches without a name on the map.
Trails & water
2 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
6.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.1 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
1.1 mi
off-road bike paths
4.1 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
20Golf
14Tennis
11Baseball
7Basketball
2Football
1Soccer
1Volleyball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →11 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 3 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
Stanley InstituteBuilding · listed 1975
About itLaGrangeBuilding · listed 1980
About itDorchester County Courthouse and JailBuilding · listed 1982
About itChrist Episcopal Church and CemeteryBuilding · listed 1984
About itPATRICIA (log canoe)Structure · listed 1985
About itSycamore CottageBuilding · listed 1988
About itGoldsborough HouseBuilding · listed 1988
About itCambridge Historic District, Wards I and IIIDistrict · listed 1990
About itPine Street Neighborhood Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2012
About itRock Methodist Episcopal ChurchBuilding · listed 2014
About itPhillips Packing Company Plant FBuilding · listed 2021
About itWhen to get out
The best walking months in Cambridge: 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) | 9.8 | 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 | 55 | 67 | 75 | 84 | 88 | 86 | 80 | 69 | 58 | 49 |
| Rain (in) | 3.3 | 2.9 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 4.7 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.2 | 3.8 |
February is the driest month (2.9 in) and July the warmest (highs of 88 °F). 4.7 inches fall in August, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 88 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Cambridge →
Questions about parks and trails in Cambridge
Where can I hike in Cambridge?
The longest trail networks: Great Marsh Park, 0.5 miles; Sailwinds Park, 0.5 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Cambridge is conserved land?
13% 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 Cambridge’s trails?
Great Marsh Park and Sailwinds Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Cambridge?
6.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.1 of painted or protected lanes, 1.1 of off-road paths and 4.1 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Cambridge?
3,139 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Cambridge or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 464 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Cambridge have?
Ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #87 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 Cambridge 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 →