Untitled.jpg

Accokeek Foundation

Piscataway Park | National Colonial Farm

  • About

    • COVID-19 Updates and Info
    • About the Accokeek Foundation
    • Meet the Team
    • Careers
    • Contact
  • Visit

    • Plan Your Visit
    • Calendar of Events
    • Farm Tours
    • Self-Guided Adventures
    • Nature Trails
    • Fishing and Boating
    • Plan an Event
  • Learn

    • School Programs
    • YouTube Channel
    • Blog
  • Stewardship & Conservation

    • Land & Cultural Preservation
    • Heritage Livestock Conservation
    • Farm Sales
  • History & Heritage

    • National Colonial Farm
    • Indigenous Cultural Landscape
  • Support

    • Donate
    • Volunteer
    • Corporate Sponsorships
    • Planned Giving
  • More

    Use tab to navigate through the menu items.
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
    • All Posts
    • Agriculture and Farming
    • Education
    • History and Culture
    • Piscataway Park
    • News
    • Events
    • Heritage Breed Animals
    • Piscataway Indigenous Culture
    • Recreation
    • Stewardship and Conservation
    • Support
    • Food and Foodways
    Search
    Trail Treks: Pawpaws in Piscataway Park
    Accokeek Foundation
    • Jul 17, 2015
    • 2 min

    Trail Treks: Pawpaws in Piscataway Park

    As summer heats up, the forested Pawpaw Trail provides welcome shade from the sun. Tulip trees, oaks, and sycamores stand tall, but the trail would not be complete without an appearance by the tree that bears its name. Its long, thin trunk looks silver in the shade. Its oblong leaves bring to mind the tropics. And its light green fruit hangs too often just out of reach. It is the pawpaw. Often translated to mean place of the wild fruit, referring to the pawpaw, Accokeek itsel
    13 views0 comments
    Adopt-a-Trail Program
    Accokeek Foundation
    • Dec 16, 2013
    • 4 min

    Adopt-a-Trail Program

    In partnership with the National Park Service, the Accokeek Foundation maintains six nature trails in Piscataway Park. The Adopt-A-Trail program seeks to engage organizations and community members interested in helping maintain these trails to keep them safe and well-groomed for the park’s 20,000 visitors each year. Adopters will schedule and perform regular trails sweeps throughout the designated length of adoption, and will be responsible for reporting trail conditions to t
    10 views0 comments
    Foto Friday: Fall Foliage
    Accokeek Foundation
    • Oct 18, 2013
    • 1 min

    Foto Friday: Fall Foliage

    After 16 days of forced separation from the site, we were finally able to open the gates and return to Piscataway Park last Thursday. The two weeks of telecommuting had an unexpectedly negative effect on my morale, so it was quite a relief to arrive back on site to the satisfying crunch of fallen leaves underfoot and the fresh cool autumn air that is easily fought off with a light jacket and brisk walk. The restorative powers of this place are more apparent to me than ever, a
    0 views0 comments
    Accokeek Foundation
    • Jun 13, 2013
    • 5 min

    Celebrate Summer with a Festival for Water Enthusiasts on June 22

    What a better way to introduce a new dock and kayak launch at Piscataway Park than to throw a party?! The Accokeek Foundation is very proud to present its newly rebuilt boat dock and renovated fishing pier to the community on Saturday, June 22. This site-wide celebration will be packed with music, games, tours, water activities, food and more. Celebrating the Potomac will be the perfect start to what is sure to be the best summer yet! I, for one, am extremely excited to be ab
    2 views0 comments
    A Botanical Journey in Piscataway Park
    Accokeek Foundation
    • May 17, 2013
    • 3 min

    A Botanical Journey in Piscataway Park

    Written by Molly Meehan, Community Outreach and Education Coordinator Pawpaw in Bloom As I journey into my third year working at the Accokeek Foundation and, essentially, my third year directing my attention toward our incredible local plant world in Southern Maryland, I am beginning to understand the mysterious and wonderful language of the local plants. The landscape is almost like one of those magic eye pictures. If you just turn your attention in a certain way long enough
    8 views0 comments
    Green Thumbs Volunteer Club
    Accokeek Foundation
    • Mar 27, 2013
    • 1 min

    Green Thumbs Volunteer Club

    Responsibilities May Include: Plant, water, and tend plants Monitor plant health and treat for disease, nutrient deficiency, and pests Keep gardens and pathways weed free and accessible Repair garden fences, gates, and interior structures as needed Provide staking, trellising, and other supports to plants as needed Maintain compost bins Harvest, process, and save seed Maintain tools, supplies, and equipment in good working order No previous experience necessary. This voluntee
    7 views0 comments
    Accokeek Foundation Receives Ticket to Ride Grant for School Tours
    Accokeek Foundation
    • Aug 28, 2012
    • 3 min

    Accokeek Foundation Receives Ticket to Ride Grant for School Tours

    ACCOKEEK FOUNDATION AT PISCATAWAY PARK ANJELA BARNES, COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER OUTREACH@ACCOKEEK.ORG | 301-283-2113 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ACCOKEEK FOUNDATION AT PISCATAWAY PARK AWARDED NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION ‘TICKET TO RIDE’ GRANT TO BRING LOCAL STUDENTS INTO PARK $230,000 Grant Connects 30,000 Students with National Parks Across the Country Washington, D.C. (August 28, 2012)  –  Responding to an overwhelming need for transportation and educational programming funding from pa
    9 views0 comments
    Accokeek Foundation
    • Jun 19, 2012
    • 2 min

    Trail Treks: The Secret Life of Soil

    As stewards of more than three miles of hiking trails in Piscataway Park, the Accokeek Foundation had much to celebrate on National Trails Day. But as plein air painters captured on canvas the sweeping fields and shaded forests of the site, as writers found inspiration in the plants and insects on the Pumpkin Ash Trail, I wondered: isn’t it time we pay some attention to the ground itself? So often overlooked—and overstepped—soil is a complex ecosystem filled with countless cr
    4 views0 comments
    Appreciating the Ordinary: Deer and Geese in Piscataway Park
    Accokeek Foundation
    • May 16, 2012
    • 2 min

    Appreciating the Ordinary: Deer and Geese in Piscataway Park

    This pair of Canada geese and their goslings were spotted in the pond that leads up to the Pawpaw Trail. The bright rump of a white-tailed deer, the snow white chinstrap of a Canada goose: both are common sites in Piscataway Park, present here year-round. Even when the animals themselves are elusive, the tracks of a deer’s graceful step or a goose’s awkward-on-land waddle can be found in our muddy fields. But as deer over-graze forests and landscaped lawns, as geese damage ag
    4 views0 comments
    Trail Treks: Birds and Blooms in Piscataway Park
    Accokeek Foundation
    • Apr 20, 2012
    • 2 min

    Trail Treks: Birds and Blooms in Piscataway Park

    The jack-in-the-pulpit, left, is just one of the spring ephemera that blooms in Piscataway Park. Right, a redbud and pawpaw tree are in bloom. After a short winter, April has brought with it an early welcome to wild signs of spring. The once dull Pawpaw Trail is now alive with soft greens and pinks, as new growth shoots forth from the forest floor and tall trees begin to leaf out. Spring ephemera are the first signs that warmer weather is here, although these signs do not las
    7 views0 comments
    Trail Treks: Unearthing History in Piscataway Park
    Accokeek Foundation
    • Mar 12, 2012
    • 2 min

    Trail Treks: Unearthing History in Piscataway Park

    Seemingly ancient barbed wire wrapped around an old wooden fencepost serves as a reminder of just one way that humans have interacted with the landscape of Piscataway Park. Hidden in a line of trees just off the Pawpaw Trail sits an old wooden fencepost, rotten with age but still wrapped with barbed wire. No longer in use, this lone piece of fence serves now to remind us of the pastures where farmers felled trees and put up their livestock in the decades before this landscape
    0 views0 comments
    Trail Treks: Taking In Our View of Mount Vernon
    Accokeek Foundation
    • Feb 17, 2012
    • 2 min

    Trail Treks: Taking In Our View of Mount Vernon

    The Pawpaw Trail offers wintertime views of Mount Vernon and the Potomac River. Whether it’s from the Saylor Grove fishing pier or the highest point on the Pawpaw Trail, one of the most cherished features of Piscataway Park is our view of Mount Vernon. In late winter, bare branches frame the blue Potomac River and the red and white of George Washington’s iconic home. But Mount Vernon’s view of Piscataway Park is just as important–and what led to the park’s authorization more
    1 view0 comments
    Trail Treks: The Beauty of Nature Abounds Even in Winter
    Accokeek Foundation
    • Jan 5, 2012
    • 2 min

    Trail Treks: The Beauty of Nature Abounds Even in Winter

    The Pawpaw Trail travels through a mature forest, offering a glimpse of what this land was like before European settlers arrived. On a walk in winter, there is so little to look at that the little things are allowed to impress. With no oppressing heat or overwhelming greenness to distract from the details, the colors and textures of a trail in winter—so alone in their ability to spark interest—stand out. The Pawpaw Trail, located at the western end of our grounds, travels thr
    1 view0 comments
    Accokeek Foundation
    • Sep 20, 2011
    • 1 min

    The Last Osprey: An Observation from the President

    by Wilton Corkern On the way to work this morning I saw a single Osprey perched atop a dead tree trunk in the Accokeek Creek wetland. It occurred to me that this may be the last Osprey I’ll see in Piscataway Park this year. They begin heading south around Labor Day and have usually cleared out by the first day of fall. The realization prompted me to use my walk to enjoy the late summer wildflowers in the “back 40” between Tobacco Road and the Potomac River. The rewards were g
    3 views0 comments
    The Indispensable Honeybee
    Accokeek Foundation
    • Aug 16, 2011
    • 2 min

    The Indispensable Honeybee

    Inside one of the Ecosystem Farm's four honeybee hives. During this time of bright sunshine and bountiful harvests from farms and gardens all over the region, it is important to stop and thank those creatures that have helped our produce grow. Like the toads that eat up the grubs and slugs that would otherwise damage our crops. Or the parasitic flies and wasps that help growers control various pests. Or the multitude of pollinators that allow our fruits and vegetables to deve
    1 view0 comments
    A Bad Day to Be a Tadpole
    Accokeek Foundation
    • May 27, 2011
    • 3 min

    A Bad Day to Be a Tadpole

    by Wilton Corkern, President On any given day this time of year a traveler along Bryan Point Road will almost surely see a Great Blue Heron stalking the aquatic creatures in the Accokeek Creek swamp. Everything about this bird is big: its head and body are four feet long; erect, it stands five feet tall; its wingspan is six feet. Even its bill is over five inches long. Yet it is a graceful flier, able to lift its five pound frame straight into the air with a single flap
    1 view0 comments
    High-Tech Treasure Hunt Set to Launch June 4, 2011
    Accokeek Foundation
    • May 10, 2011
    • 4 min

    High-Tech Treasure Hunt Set to Launch June 4, 2011

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 10, 2011 Captain John Smith Geotrail features over 40 Chesapeake sites in Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware Piscataway Park along the Potomac River Annapolis – Set to launch on National Trails Day, June 4, 2011 at the Accokeek Foundation at Piscataway Park, the new Captain John Smith Geotrail is a journey across Chesapeake landscapes that evokes scenes and stories experienced by Captain Smith 400 years ago. Adventurers will have the chance to explore
    1 view0 comments
    An Observation from the Bayou
    Accokeek Foundation
    • May 10, 2011
    • 2 min

    An Observation from the Bayou

    by Wilton C. Corkern, President I always enjoy visiting my family in Louisiana. There are also a few bonuses that come with the trip: a shoe shine in Louis Armstrong International Airport, the drive across the Bonnet Carre Spillway and the Atchafalaya Basin, oyster po-boys from Chris’s diner and crawfish at Prejean’s in Lafayette, and visiting some great wildlife habitat. One regular spot we visit is Lake Martin, in the edge of St. Martin Parish. It’s a great place to see bir
    0 views0 comments
    Courtship: Spring Flings Among the Furred and Feathered
    Accokeek Foundation
    • Apr 7, 2011
    • 1 min

    Courtship: Spring Flings Among the Furred and Feathered

    Last week’s revelation that a fresh egg had appeared in one of the nesting boxes along the Ken Otis Bluebird Trail was a surprise. March is early for Eastern Bluebirds to begin nesting here, but the blue egg is incontrovertible evidence that the season is upon us. In fact, creatures all over the park have begun to display their courtship and nesting behaviors. My morning drive to work often includes detours to Farmington Landing or Marshall Hall, as well as the usual stop on
    1 view0 comments

    Accokeek Foundation

    info@accokeek.org

    (301) 283-2113

    3400 Bryan Point Rd, Accokeek, MD 20607, USA

    About the Foundation
    Careers
    Plan Your Visit
    Book a School Tour
    Donate
    Volunteer
    Plan an Event
    Subscribe
    COVID-19 Info
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter

    ©2020 by Accokeek Foundation. Proudly created with Wix.com