Rosaryville State Park

This park is a hidden place to ride mountain bikes or go hiking around Southern Prince George’s County, Maryland. You will drive right by this park if you haven’t’ used your GPS to find it. It seems like the State of Maryland doesn’t support this park with updated services. There were lots of wildlife and very quite off of U.S. Route 301. This venue can hold a group outing or family function.

This park is in upper Marlboro. Use a GPS to find it. The address on the site is actually a near by house, but once you get there it will be apparent where you need to go. So there are trails and big open spaces in this park. Very scenic. There is also a mansion you can hike to. I’m sure you can drive too, but I was out for exercise… its quite and great to just hang out. There is a $ 3 fee on the honor system. But who wouldn’t want to maintain these wonderful parks???

Rosaryville State Park is a bit of a mixed bag. It is a small state park just west of Route 301, and its calm, quiet atmosphere contrasts pretty nicely with that rather busy highway. There are essentially three reasons why anyone would want to visit here: hike, mountain bike, or attend a wedding. Seriously.
For the wedding goers, it turns out that the Mt. Airy mansion lies roughly in the center of the park, and it is accessible by an entirely different road than the traditional park entrance. Said mansion is typically rented out for weddings on weekends. I did not visit the park for this reason, but more information can be had on that by looking at the Mt. Airy reviews.
For mountain bikers and hikers alike, there is one trail: the Perimeter Trail. It extends roughly 9 miles, as you may have surmised, around the perimeter of the entire park. The trail is maintained and principally used by mountain bikers. As such, it tends to meander in places unnecessarily often offering up switchbacks where a simple hill would suffice (at least from the point of view of a hiker). Along the way, the terrain is pretty mixed. There are gullies, stream beds, open fields, an extended easement for power lines, some houses, and an old, presumably abandoned barn. It’s great for bird watching and seeing deer. The trail is fairly well-​marked in both directions, though there was one questionable spot that had me going right instead of left with less than 100 percent certainty. By marked, I mean little signs with arrows pointing the way. Sometimes the signs indicate the mile, but that is only in one direction and not the other. There are no blazes.
Overall, it is not a bad hike. It is pretty manageable in about 3 hours at a fast pace, 4 hours at a slower pace. Price of admission is $ 3 for MD residents and $ 4 for the rest of us and is handled by the honor system. Ideally it is suited for mountain bikers, but it can make for a decent, relaxing, quick hike.