Chapman State Park

We came to this park to do a short hike, but there are no maps available on site or online, as far as I can tell. We started out on a trail from the grassy parking area inside the gate, where a sign announced a 1.6 mile loop trail. However, once we started out, the signage was awful and it was completely unclear which forks we needed to take to stay on the loop. We eventually ended up at a dead end in an old graveyard, and gave up and returned to the parking lot. When we got to the lot we each found a few deer ticks on us, even though we never went off-​trail (possibly because much of the trail we were on was grassy). Along the trail, there were a few spots to stop at the riverside, but they were full of garbage and swarming with mosquitoes. Piscataway Park to the north was much nicer.

A really quiet, out of the way park but definitely worth the walk. Had to park at the gate (space for a few cars) and walk in which is a little awkward, but well worth it. As both reviews mentioned, the view from the back of the house to the river is amazing. Not a soul around so it was a little eerie hanging out here, and walking past the abandoned house on the road, but I like that kind of stuff.

This place is beautiful. The walk to the old mansion is a short distance and smells of honey suckle. It’s a gorgeous path and when you come up on the house, just beyond you get a fantastic view of a field and the Potomac. It’s a place you can’t miss out on if you have the chance to go or are nearby one day. It’s a place you won’t forget.

Blink and you’ll miss it, but this is an extraordinary park in Southern Maryland. Unless there’s an open house at Mt. Aventine (a historic plantation house from 1840), you’ll have to park at the gate on Chapman’s Landing Road and walk in.
When you get to the Mt. Aventine house, you might think that’s it. Walk around the house to see an incredible vista of the Potomac. An ENORMOUS lawn extends down the hill to old fields (now just grass with the occasional cactus – yes, cactus). Beyond the fields is a small wooded area and the shore of the Potomac.
The river bends at this point, so unfortunately, the shore is a collection of trash, seaweed, and algae that have washed down. However, there are all sorts of shells and driftwood washed up on the beach.
Until 1998, developers wanted to turn this area into a new city. In response to citizen groups who were concerned that development would destroy the historic plantation and old growth forest, the State purchased the land in that year. In late 2002, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources named the part north of Indian Head Highway as Chapman State Park and the part south of the highway as the Parris Glendening Natural Environment Area after the former Governor who purchased the land.