• The working watermen community of Tangier Island VA at sunset. Photo by Starke Jett.

    Chesapeake Bay

Explore the Chesapeake

NPS helps you learn about and enjoy the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in North America.

Here, you can visit major league cities, colonial towns, farms and fishing villages. You can learn to kayak, pick crabs, go fishing, tour a lighthouse, slurp oysters, and slow down to enjoy the natural beauty of the Chesapeake. Download the Chesapeake Explorer mobile app and have it at your fingertips.

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Features

  • Kids holding Lotus leaves

    Large Landscape Conservation

    Read how NPS Chesapeake Bay and its partners collaborate on large landscape conservation to protect resources and provide recreational opportunities.

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  • Welcome to the mobile app Chesapeake Explorer

    Chesapeake Explorer -- This App's for You

    The Chesapeake Explorer mobile app helps you get to over 400 Chesapeake places - national trails, heritage sites, and state and national parks. FREE!

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  • Walking down the pier at Marshy Point State Park

    Public Access

    See how the National Park Service and partners are working to increase the number of places you can go for fun on the Chesapeake and rivers.

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  • The cover of the NPS Chesapeake Bay report 2012 Year in Review

    2012 Year in Review

    The 2012 Year in Review illustrates the many achievements of NPS Chesapeake Bay and its partners throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

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  • Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum hosts gatherings and events about Chesapeake Indians. Photo by Rigby.

    Capt John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail

    Englishman John Smith’s map and journals are a remarkable record of indigenous cultures and the natural environment of the 17th-century Chesapeake.

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  • Reenactment with cannon fire. Photo by Ruehlmann

    Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail

    Follow the trail to learn stories of the War of 1812 in the Chesapeake and the events that led to the birth of our National Anthem

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  • At Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve. Photo by Starke Jett.

    Explore Bay Gateways and Watertrails

    Over 170 Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails offer unique Chesapeake experiences and give you and the whole family an array of fun choices.

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Did You Know?

Striped Bass

The Bay supports more than 3,600 species of plants, fish and animals, including 348 species of finfish, 173 species of shellfish and over 2,700 plant species.