Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Maryland Park Service
11704 Fenno Road, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772
Welcome! The Maryland Park Service strives to provide a safe and enjoyable environment for your recreational pleasure. In doing so, we must balance user needs with environmental demands to meet our stewardship obligations. You are an important part of the stewardship team; it is your responsibility to have the necessary skills, knowledge and equipment for a safe and environmentally sensitive visit. We hope you enjoy your visit to Maryland's state forests and parks.
Merkle Visitor Center
The Visitor Center at Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary is open Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A glass wall faces several large ponds that attract a wide variety of waterfowl and wetland birds. Many exhibits interpreting Canada Goose management and a Nature Discovery Room that features live animals native to the sanctuary are available. Merkle provides bathrooms and a drinking fountain for public use. Maryland state forests and parks are trash free. Remember, "Play Safe" and "Leave No Trace."
Critical Area Driving Tour
The CADT offers a unique and accessible self-guided tour of our sanctuary grounds including a boardwalk, a 40 foot observation tower, Lookout Creek Trail and views of the Patuxent River and wetland habitats. The drive is a one-way tour beginning at Patuxent River Park on Croom Airport Road and has several vehicle pull-offs available. (Please stay in vehicle except in designated areas and do not drive off route). The drive is open every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for vehicle access one-way only (all year) and 7 days a week for hikers, bikers and horseback riders (January through September, 7 a.m.-sunset). Horses are not permitted to cross the CADT bridge, so all horseback riding must begin and end at Merkle.
Hiking Trails
The Sanctuary currently supports four hiking trails in the wildlife areas (only open to foot traffic). Click here to view a map of the hiking trails. The trails vary from primarily flat ground to steeper hills. All trail distances are round-trip, measured from the Visitor Center (except Lookout Creek Trail).
- Paw Paw Trail is the yellow blazed trail. Enter the wildlife area at the Trail Head Bulletin Board (do not use the Service Road) next to Merkle House (yellow/cream colored). Paw Paw Trail features fields, Stump Pond, and woodland ecology. The Paw Paw plant grows near the footbridge during late spring and summer. This trail is 1.2 miles long and is rated easy.
- Poplar Springs Trail is the red blazed trail that leaves the Paw Paw circuit. The trail crosses the entrance drive into the forest buffer zone. The Mattaponi Creek headwater wetland area is located off the Poplar Springs circuit. Poplar Springs is 3.0 miles long and is rated easy to moderate.
- Mounds Trail is the blue blazed trail that leaves the Paw Paw loop and heads toward the river front. The mounds along the trail are thought to be remnants of colonial boundary markers. This trail is 2.3 miles long and rated moderate.
- Lookout Creek Trail is the white blazed trail, and is only accessed by the CADT (see above). This loop trail provides an excellent overlook of Lookout Creek, is .72 miles long and is rated easy.