Piscataway Park — Attraction in Accokeek

We were really excited to take our daughters here for the Junior Ranger program. We were a little turned off by the care of the park. This is the first National Park we've visited that seemed to not be taken care of well at all. The grass was overgrown and trash bins were overflowing. We visited the colonial farm part and were less than thrilled at what we found. The best part was the pier into the Potomac River where you could see Mount Vernon on the other side. The farm...was not a farm. There was a garden that was in shabby shape and overgrown and obviously not run by anyone anymore. There was a large colonial farm home that seems like it would have been a good educational piece for kids except it was in bad disrepair, the grass was super tall so you couldn't walk to it, and it looked like it wasn't used at all anymore. The sign posts around the property badly needed to be replaced. The animals that were there were few. We didn't run into a single ranger or person while we were there. It's sad that this park isn't taken care of better, as it seems like it was once a really nice educational place. I'm glad it preserves the view from Mount Vernon but disappointed with how badly it's...

A hidden park with a nice view of Mount Vernon. This is a hidden park. To get to it you have to drive south of DC and through a rural community for a few miles until you get to a parking lot that marks the beginning of this park. Be looking along the way as we saw a lot of deer grazing in the open fields along the route. According to the NPS website, “Piscataway Park is home to bald eagles, beavers, deer, foxes, ospreys, and many other species. To complement the surroundings, the park has, in addition to a public fishing pier and two boardwalks over freshwater tidal wetlands, a variety of nature trails, meadows, and woodland areas. The Park is also home to National Colonial Farm.” The parking lot leads to the walkway and the dock. There are several informational signs along the walkway. Mount Vernon can be seen from the dock across the water. The walkways lead either along the water or through the farm. The farm has old-style fence construction and original wood structures. Some very nice people came out and answered our questions by the barn with the rams. Some birdwatchers told us about unique fowl that were visiting. Overall, I found it fascinating, educational, and...

Pleasantly surprised by this place! Was looking for a new outdoors place to see in the DMV and I found this just through its high ratings on google reviews. We parked at the Colonial Farm (visitor center closed due to Covid) parking lot. Arrived around 10:30 am and it was about halfway full. If it got really busy in the afternoon I think there would have been space to park on the road but it didn’t seem like parking was running out when I left at 2:00 pm. I enjoyed the park because it was a little bit of everything - the farm has animals, there are some shaded woods parts, the piers to see the Potomac were nice (the water sounds like the ocean in some parts!) and there was even a marsh type area. Lots of people fishing on one of the piers. Some picnic tables by the visitor center. Bring water - there is not much shade around the farm. Family friendly and some people had dogs. Aside from the farm animals, I saw an osprey and a newt! There were maps available and we just made a large loop around the farm and by the water. Easy to navigate and 95% flat ground. Majority of people were good about social distancing and...