Gorman Stream Valley Natural Resource Area
Nature preserve
203 acres5.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto Gorman Park Trail Parking
Photo: Pi.1415926535 · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Scaggsville
Scaggsville has 11 miles of mapped trails, 2.2 for every square mile of land
30% of Scaggsville’s land is conserved, about 960 acres. The biggest trail networks: Gorman Stream Valley Natural Resource Area (5.7 mi), T. Howard Duckett Watershed (0.8 mi), Hammond Park (0.8 mi). 87% of residents live within a half mile of a park.
Ahead of 95% of U.S. towns · #20 of 261 in Maryland. What drives it
Conserved land
30%
960 acres · of 5.0 sq mi of land
Trails
11 mi
2.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
246 ac
23 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
87%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
0.5 mi
0.5 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
1 boat launch
What kind of outdoors town is Scaggsville?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Scaggsville have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Scaggsville is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns, #20 of 261 in Maryland. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, park acres per resident lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Scaggsville’s overall grade.
Conserved land30% of the land · typical MD town 9% · U.S. 4%ATrails2.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (11 mi) · MD 0.5 · U.S. 0.4APark land23 acres of park per 1,000 residents (246 acres) · MD 9 · U.S. 13B+Parks close to home87% 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 95%
LessMore
Maryland towns of 2,500+ (261)Ahead of 93%
Maryland towns conserve more land than most (a typical one, 9%; the U.S., 4%), so Scaggsville’s 30% is ahead of 96% of Maryland towns, while its trails per square mile lead 93% of them.
Water is 7% of Scaggsville’s area (0 of 5 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 28%.
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
The longest trail network is Gorman Stream Valley Natural Resource Area, with 5.7 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
T. Howard Duckett Watershed
Managed by Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission
694 acres0.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
Sweet Hours Park
Managed by Columbia Association
1 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
960 conserved acres
30% of Scaggsville’s land. Water is left out: Scaggsville has 5.0 square miles of land and 0.4 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Scaggsville’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County118 ac
Other or Unknown Local Government102 ac
State natural resources83 ac
Joint54 ac
State conservation14 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits13 ac
State parks9 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 674 acConservation Easement · 147 acLocal Park · 120 acPrivate Other or Unknown · 105 acUnknown Easement · 90 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 146 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 69 of 116 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Space Private Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 464 | Unknown |
| Gorman Stream Valley Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 199 | Unknown |
| Gorman Valley Stream Park Local Park | Not recorded | 59 | Unknown |
| County Open Space Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 51 | Unknown |
| Cherry Tree Farm Local Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 26 | Unknown |
| Hammond Park Local Park | Not recorded | 19 | Unknown |
| Cherry Tree Park Local Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 15 | Open |
| Gorman Stream Valley Park Local Park | Not recorded | 14 | Unknown |
| Hoa Private Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 9 | Unknown |
| Patuxent River Wastershed Conservation Park Local Park | Not recorded | 9 | Unknown |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
8 places to go in Scaggsville
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Public pools in Scaggsville
Hammond Pool
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Scaggsville
6 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Boat launches in Scaggsville
Scott's CoveIn T. Howard Duckett Watershed
DirectionsTrails & water
1 lakes & rivers
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
0.5 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
0.5 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
19Golf
5Baseball
2Equestrian
1Tennis
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Scaggsville: April to June and August
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) | 42 | 46 | 54 | 66 | 75 | 83 | 87 | 85 | 78 | 67 | 56 | 46 |
| Rain (in) | 3.1 | 2.7 | 3.9 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 4.1 | 3.3 | 3.8 |
February is the driest month (2.7 in) and July the warmest (highs of 87 °F). 4.5 inches fall in July, the wettest month. Summer highs reach 87 °F, too hot for the outline. The climate in Scaggsville →
Next door
Scaggsville 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scaggsville | 30% | 2.2 | 23 | 87% | A |
| Columbia | 26% | 1.0 | 41 | 99%+ | A+ |
| North Laurel | 15% | 0.5 | 12 | 99%+ | A |
| Burtonsville | 31% | 1.9 | 118 | 99% | A+ |
| West Laurel | 20% | 0.6 | 10 | 87% | A− |
| Fulton | 18% | 0.4 | 12 | 96% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Scaggsville
Where can I hike in Scaggsville?
The longest trail networks: Gorman Stream Valley Natural Resource Area, 5.7 miles; T. Howard Duckett Watershed, 0.8 miles; Hammond Park, 0.8 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Scaggsville is conserved land?
30% 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 Scaggsville’s trails?
Gorman Stream Valley Natural Resource Area and T. Howard Duckett Watershed don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Scaggsville?
0.5 miles of bike routes are on the map: 0.5 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Scaggsville?
16,771 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Scaggsville or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 246 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Scaggsville have?
Ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #20 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 Scaggsville 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 →