1
Wheaton Regional Park
Managed by Montgomery Parks
536 acres6.8 mi of trail
Little Bit Loop TrailRaven's RunPine Lake TrailTimberdoodle TrailSpicebush Trail
No dogsMapped in OpenStreetMap
Outdoors · Wheaton
Wheaton, MD parks, trails & bike paths
About 22% of Wheaton is conserved land, roughly 968 acres. There are about 12 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Wheaton Regional Park (6.8 mi), Rock Creek Stream Valley Park (1.5 mi), and Brookside Gardens (0.7 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Wheaton, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Wheaton outdoors
Conserved land
22%
968 of 4,418 acres
Trails
12 mi
1.7 mi per sq mi · 10 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
21
18 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
14.0 mi
0.0 mi lanes · 8.8 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
Rock Creek Stream Valley Park
Managed by Montgomery Parks
138 acres1.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
3
Brookside Gardens
Managed by Montgomery County Parks
27 acres0.7 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
4
Capitol View – Homewood Park
Managed by Montgomery Parks
17 acres0.6 mi of trail
Dogs allowedMapped in OpenStreetMap
5
Veirs Mill Park
Managed by Montgomery Parks
17 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
All 21 parks & preserves
Showing 1–10 of 21 parks & preserves
Wheaton Regional Park536 acres · 6.8 mi of trail · Montgomery Parks
Rock Creek Stream Valley Park138 acres · 1.5 mi of trail · Montgomery Parks
Brookside Gardens27 acres · 0.7 mi of trail · Montgomery County Parks
Capitol View – Homewood Park17 acres · 0.6 mi of trail · Montgomery Parks
Veirs Mill Park17 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · Montgomery Parks
Sligo Creek Stream Valley Park124 acres · 0.2 mi of trail · Montgomery Parks
Matthew Henson State Park60 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Maryland Departement of Recreation, Maryland Park Service
Wheaton-Claridge Local Park21 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Montgomery Parks
Glenmont Local Park12 acres · 0.1 mi of trail
Glen Haven Park5 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Montgomery Parks
Things to do
Beaches, playgrounds, falls & more
Pick a kind of place for the list, directions, or pins on the map above.
Picnic areas in Wheaton
Showing 1–10 of 12 picnic areas
South TerraceIn Brookside Gardens
Spectator AreaIn Wheaton Regional Park
Woodland Picnic / Campfire AreaIn Wheaton Regional Park
Unnamed picnic area in Veirs Mill Park
Unnamed picnic area in Wheaton-Claridge Local Park
Unnamed picnic area in Wheaton Regional Park
Unnamed picnic area in Wheaton Regional Park
Unnamed picnic area in Wheaton Regional Park
Unnamed picnic area in Wheaton Regional Park
Unnamed picnic area in Wheaton Regional Park
Trails
Named trails
Open to bikes 3.6 miHorses 4.5 miUnpaved 10.7 mi
- Little Bit Loop Trail1.4 mi
- Raven's Run0.6 mi
- Pine Lake Trail0.4 mi
- Timberdoodle Trail0.3 mi
- Spicebush Trail0.2 mi
- Harper's Cabin Trail0.1 mi
- Oak Ridge Trail0.1 mi
- Wheaton Way-Brookside0.1 mi
Water
Lakes & rivers
Tap a name for directions.
Who protects the land
968 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 6 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. Public access isn't recorded for 12 of 31 parcels. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes0.0 mi
- Off-road bike paths8.8 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes5.1 mi
Courts & fields
- Tennis33
- Basketball27
- Baseball17
- Soccer15
- Equestrian2
- Volleyball1
- Multi-sport1
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Public lands
The biggest protected places in Wheaton
From USGS PAD-US: who manages each one and whether visitors are welcome.
State Other or Unknown 769 acLocal Park 156 acLocal Other or Unknown 93 acConservation Easement 6 acState Park 5 ac
Showing 1–10 of 15 places
| Place | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northwest Branch ParkState Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 546 | Access unknown |
| Sligo Creek ParkState Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 134 | Access unknown |
| Rock Creek Stream Valley ParkLocal Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 92 | Open |
| Rock Creek Stream ValleyLocal Other or Unknown | Not recorded | 89 | Access unknown |
| Wheaton-Claridge LpLocal Park | Regional agency | 21 | Open |
| Glenmont ParkLocal Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 18 | Open |
| Veirs Mill LpLocal Park | Regional agency | 17 | Open |
| Capitol View-Homewood LpLocal Park | Regional agency | 15 | Open |
| StoneybrookLocal Park | Other or Unknown Local Government | 11 | Open |
| Winding Creek LpLocal Park | Regional agency | 11 | Open |
History
Historic places to visit
Abandoned Gaynor Road bridgeIn Rock Creek Stream Valley Park · Ruins
DC Sniper Victims MemorialIn Brookside Gardens · Stone
Oscar OsorioGhost bike
Parkland MemorialIn Rock Creek Stream Valley Park · Sculpture
SmokehouseIn Wheaton Regional Park · Building
Nearby
Wheaton and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wheaton | 21.9% | 11.8 mi | 21 |
| Glenmont | 14.2% | 1.1 mi | 8 |
| North Bethesda | 7.4% | 2.5 mi | 23 |
| Kemp Mill | 17.6% | 6.7 mi | 9 |
| Aspen Hill | 13.4% | 12.8 mi | 18 |
| North Kensington | 11.3% | 0.6 mi | 6 |
| Forest Glen | 14.1% | 2.9 mi | 7 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Wheaton'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.