Potomac River / Mallows Bay Park in Maryland

Trip Overview

Unfortunately I decided to go kayak this place on an extremely hot day. The parking was nice, the dock was great, I had never experienced a kayak launch until then. There is a very nice older gentleman that monitors the park and is quite informative. There are restrooms, a place to picnic, etc.

Once you launch you can choose to turn right and go into the back "pond area" where there is a wreck that you can look at, maybe see some turtles sunning. Tide was low during my visit so I would eventually run into some issues out by the burned out/sunken wooden ship hulls. I paddled over to the far left of the bay and got out to walk on the shore line, no fossils so I moved on.

Paddled over to the large metal wreck with the bird sanctuary nests on it and took some great photos. I was the only one out there at the time, probably due to the heat. I continually hit bottom on the hulls which was totally my fault since I failed to look at the tide chart. I believe this would be a great place for high or moderate tide moments or in the evening. My main goal was to see the wrecks and photograph some wildlife.

Eventually I started feeling quite ill after paddling to the ship in the middle of the bay, even drinking water did not make the illness go away so I thought it best to just call it a day.

All in all it was a nice experience with the future ability to paddle north or south on the Potomac for some other destinations, just have to Google earth it and see what's in close proximity.

Accommodations:

Mallows Bay Park - Nice restrooms, picnic area, and kayak launch.

Open daily:
7:00 AM to Dusk (November-February)
5:30 AM to Dusk (March-October)

Fees:

No Fees

Contact:

Mallows Bay Park

1440 Wilson Landing Road

Nanjemoy, MD 20662

website: www.charlescountymd.gov/maps/parks

Resources:

Internet search for "Mallows Bay".

Knowing the history of why the ships are there makes it even better.