1
Ward Farm Recreation and Nature Park
Managed by Calvert County Parks and Recreation
185 acres4.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
Outdoors · Dunkirk
Dunkirk, MD parks, trails & bike paths
About 18% of Dunkirk is conserved land, roughly 837 acres. There are about 5.8 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Ward Farm Recreation and Nature Park (4.3 mi) and Dunkirk District Park (0.8 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Dunkirk, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Dunkirk outdoors
Conserved land
18%
837 of 4,670 acres
Trails
5.8 mi
0.8 mi per sq mi
Parks & preserves
4
386 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
5.1 mi
1.1 mi lanes · 0.6 mi off-road paths
Conserved land is a share of the whole town area. Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number or a place below to zoom in© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Parks & preserves with trails
Ranked by mapped trail miles. Directions go to the nearest marked trailhead or public parking.
2
Dunkirk District Park
Park
59 acres0.8 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
3
Hall Creek Natural Resource Management Area
Managed by Maryland Park Service
379 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Website
4
Merkle Natural Resources Management Area and Visitor Center
Managed by Maryland Park Service
95 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Website
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Disc golf in Dunkirk
Ward Farm Park Disc Golf CourseIn Ward Farm Recreation and Nature Park
Water
Lakes & rivers
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
837 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 709 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. Public access isn't recorded for 28 of 69 parcels. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes1.1 mi
- Off-road bike paths0.6 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes3.4 mi
Courts & fields
- Soccer7
- Baseball7
- Basketball1
- Skate park1
- Tennis1
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Dunkirk
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
Agricultural Easement 569 acConservation Easement 449 acState Park 128 acState Conservation Area 112 acForest Stewardship Easement 59 ac
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merkle NrmaState Park | Not recorded | 113 | Access unknown |
| Merkle Natural Resource Management AreaState Conservation Area | State natural resources | 112 | Restricted |
| Hall Creek NRMA (DNR)State Park | Not recorded | 14 | Access unknown |
History
Historic places to visit
Shiloh Methodist Episcopal Church SouthCemetery
Smiths Purchase CemeteryCemetery
Southern Memorial GardensCemetery
Nearby
Dunkirk and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Dunkirk's trails yet. Muddy, icy, a bridge out, where to park: a quick post helps the next person.
Sources: trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US). Measured against the Census town boundary.
How we measure
"Trails" are OpenStreetMap paths, bridleways, public tracks and unpaved footways, plus footways inside a park or preserve or on a named trail route. Sidewalks are left out. Areas are counted on a 20-meter grid, so overlapping parcels count once. "Conserved" includes conservation easements, which protect land from development but are usually private property. Trailheads are the nearest marked trailhead, public parking lot or information board within about 150 meters of a preserve. Dog rules come from OpenStreetMap when someone has tagged them; otherwise we show what's typical for the land manager, or say the rules aren't recorded.