Fort Meade has 62 acres of parks, 5.5 for every 1,000 residents
41% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.8 miles of mapped trail cross Fort Meade, 0.1 per square mile of land. 3% of Fort Meade’s land is conserved, about 127 acres.
Ahead of 27% of U.S. towns · #247 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
How much outdoors does Fort Meade have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Fort Meade is ahead of 27% of U.S. towns, #247 of 261 in Maryland. All four inputs are below most U.S. towns; conserved land comes closest.
Maryland towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 9%; the U.S., 4%), so Fort Meade’s 3% is ahead of 10% of Maryland towns, while its trails per square mile lead 11% of them.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Pick a walk
Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Baltimore-Washington Parkway
Hatler Park
All 5 parks & preserves
127 conserved acres
3% of Fort Meade’s land. Who manages Fort Meade’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 71 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 7 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Capital Parks Special Designation Area | National Park Service | 43 | Restricted |
| Patuxent Research Refuge National Wildlife Refuge | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 26 | Restricted |
24 places to go in Fort Meade
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
4 more playgrounds
Plus 9 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
2 lakes & rivers
6.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
The best walking months in Fort Meade: 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 | 14.7 | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.1 | 10.0 | 9.4 |
| High (°F) | 43 | 47 | 55 | 67 | 76 | 84 | 88 | 86 | 79 | 68 | 57 | 48 |
| Rain (in) | 3.0 | 2.7 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 3.2 | 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 Fort Meade →
Fort Meade 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Meade | 3% | 0.1 | 5 | 41% | C |
| Severn | 4% | 0.3 | 5 | 64% | C+ |
| Odenton | 7% | 1.3 | 35 | 83% | A |
| Maryland City | 18% | 0.3 | 26 | 98% | A− |
| Jessup | 8% | under 0.1 | under 1 | 35% | C− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Fort Meade
How much of Fort Meade is conserved land?
3% 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 Fort Meade’s trails?
Burba Lake Recreation Area and Baltimore-Washington Parkway don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Fort Meade?
6.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 4.0 of painted or protected lanes and 2.3 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Fort Meade?
17,134 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Fort Meade or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 62 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Fort Meade have?
Ahead of 27% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #247 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 Fort Meade neighbors.
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 →