Mattawoman Natural Environment Area
Managed by Maryland Park Service
379 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Araby · Photo: Preservation Maryland · CC BY-SA 2.0B+Outdoors
Outdoors in Potomac Heights
More than half of Potomac Heights’ land is conserved: 57%
57% of Potomac Heights’ land is conserved, about 395 acres. 54% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 0.3 miles of mapped trail cross Potomac Heights, 0.3 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 66% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
57%
395 acres · of 1.1 sq mi of land
Trails
0.3 mi
0.3 per sq mi of land
Park land
16 ac
12 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
54%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
1.2 mi
1.2 mi paths
What kind of outdoors town is Potomac Heights?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Potomac Heights have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Potomac Heights is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns. Conserved land holds the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B+
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Potomac Heights’ overall grade.
Conserved land57% of the land · typical MD town 9% · U.S. 4%A+Trails0.3 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (0 mi) · MD 0.5 · U.S. 0.4B−Park land12 acres of park per 1,000 residents (16 acres) · MD 9 · U.S. 13B−Parks close to home54% 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 66%
LessMore
Maryland towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 9%; the U.S., 4%), so Potomac Heights’ 57% is ahead of 100% of Maryland towns, while its trails per square mile lead 28% of them.
Water is 19% of Potomac Heights’ area (0 of 1 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 47%.
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.
Chapman State Park
Managed by Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Maryland Park Service
71 acres0.2 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
395 conserved acres
57% of Potomac Heights’ land. Water is left out: Potomac Heights has 1.1 square miles of land and 0.2 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Potomac Heights’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
State natural resources378 ac
Not recorded16 ac
State Conservation Area · 378 acLocal Other or Unknown · 16 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 3 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mattawoman Natural Environment Area State Conservation Area | State natural resources | 378 | Restricted |
| Indian Head Rail Trail Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 15 | Unknown |
| County Land Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 1 | Unknown |
Biking & sports
1.2 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
1.2 mi
off-road bike paths
When to get out
The best walking months in Potomac Heights: 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 | 49 | 57 | 68 | 76 | 85 | 89 | 87 | 80 | 69 | 58 | 49 |
| Rain (in) | 2.8 | 2.6 | 3.6 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 4.3 | 3.5 | 2.9 | 3.6 |
February is the driest month (2.6 in) and July the warmest (highs of 89 °F). 4.4 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 89 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Potomac Heights →
Next door
Potomac Heights 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potomac Heights | 57% | 0.3 | 12 | 54% | B+ |
| Indian Head | 8% | 1.2 | 11 | 99%+ | A |
| Bryans Road | 25% | 0.4 | 155 | 37% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Potomac Heights
Where can I hike in Potomac Heights?
The longest trail networks: Chapman State Park, 0.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Potomac Heights is conserved land?
57% 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 Potomac Heights’ trails?
Mattawoman Natural Environment Area and Chapman State Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Potomac Heights?
1.2 miles of bike routes are on the map: 1.2 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Potomac Heights?
17,100 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Potomac Heights or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 16 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Potomac Heights have?
Ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Potomac Heights 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 →