Smallwood State Park

Spent just one night before the Columbus Day weekend expecting it to be a quiet time but was not to be. At around 11PM I was surprised to hear the sound of an engine revving at high RPMs. I figured it was an RV coming in late and trying to park but it lasted for around a half hour and so - then I thought maybe it was a boat on the nearby creek. In any case, way too noisy especially that time of night. And then while eating breakfast around 8AM, I hear this noise and look outside to see the ranger going around in a little 4x4 utility vehicle that sounded in need of a muffler. Lastly, not a good choice if hiking is in your plans. The one trail that goes around the campground is only a couple of miles long and there are a couple of places where it crossed wide open spaces with no signs indicating the path.

Sites seem fairly level. The bathroom was clean though it lacked hand soap. The staff was not unfriendly but not exactly friendly either. So, given this park is out of the way, I have no plans on returning.

My $21 rate for a site with 30AMP service includes a senior discount.

Site Details: We stayed in site #9. The site was large, almost perfectly level, and wooded. It was also right next to the bath house, which was great for the kids. There were several paved walking paths leading to the bath house, so no one cut through our site to get to it. Site was equipped with a fire ring, grill grate, lantern post, and nice long picnic table. There was a nearby shed with firewood for $5/crate, sold on the honor system. However, there were lots of downed trees around, so we never had to buy any firewood. Sites were all very wooded and spread out; nice amount of trees and separation between each site. We were near the “top” of the oval loop, so also had close access to the foot trail through the forest, as well as the footbridge over the creek, leading to the marina.

Facilities/Overall Park: Bath house was old, and quite buggy, but reasonably clean. No dish washing sink, which was a bummer for me. Showers looked ok, and the stalls were quite large, but we didn’t use them this trip. Marina at the day-use area was very nice, and seemed to be one of the main focuses of the park. Several docks for strolling and fishing, and saw quite a few boat slips available as well. The store at the marina sold souvenirs, camping and fishing essentials, snacks and ice cream. Staff was very friendly. There is also a discovery/nature center and art center in the day use area, both of which we really enjoyed. There is a nice, brand new playground, and a pavilion which looked pretty basic and old. The day use area seems to see the most action (and maintenance) in the park, by far.

There is a separate historic area in the park, which contains Gen. Smallwood’s mansion, and a few other historic buildings. According to the website, these are only open a few days out of each month during the summer, and for an open-house type event around Christmastime. There is another pavilion in this area, as well as a recycled tire playground. The playground is about 15 years old, and you can tell it was really nice at one point, but has been somewhat neglected over the past few years. In pretty sore need of paint and mowing.

Surrounding Area/Attractions: Pretty much nothing to do in the immediate area, but not too far of a drive to DC, and a few other national/historical sites (Ft. Washington, Piscataway Park, etc).

Overall, we thought this was a nice, quiet park, and enjoyed the fishing and woodsy setting. This is definitely one of the smaller, less popular MD State parks, and that shows in the lack of maintenance and updating of some facilities. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for a place to just hang out, camp and fish, and don’t need any bells or whistles, this could be a good option.

Experience here is dependent on what you are searching for. For us, we came out for an extended stay to get away from the city. The campground is small and generally quiet with about 15 RV/camp sites, which are well spaced with trees in between. It did get a bit louder on the weekends, but nothing obnoxious. Sites are electric only and include a picnic table and fire pit which we used nightly. Firewood was available to purchase on the honor system for $5/bundle. Potable water station within the campground area was not well labeled making it hard to find on our first pass through the park; dump station also available. Around the campground there were a few trails and some unattended historic sites with sparse information included on the signage. If you want to go boating, there is a boat launch. Within a few minutes drive of the park there are some convenience stores with limited selection, but if you want restaurants or grocery stores, you'll have to drive 30 minutes into La Plata.

This is a nice little out-of-the-way campground on the banks of Mattawoman Creek, right where is empties into the Potomac River. It's a small and quiet campground with only 15 sites, but most of the sites will fit a larger rig. We recommend sites 1, 5, 10, 12, and 15. All sites are electric only; there is a water spigot at the bathhouse, and a dump station at the entrance. There is a boat launch, as well as a camp store (although the camp store wasn't open yet when we were there). Noise not a problem, despite us being there on a holiday weekend.

Not a whole lot to do here except boating. There is a hiking trail that loops around the park.

Nice campground - we will definitely go back