Last updated: October 4, 2024
Article
Navigating Tuckahoe State Park
Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Tuckahoe Creek has changed since then. As with many Bay tributaries, erosion has lined the creek bottom with sediment that has decreased water depth and left steamboat travel an exercise in imagination.
But the "unnavigable" section of the creek above Hillsboro is now its most popular stretch - with secluded paddles, good fishing and abundant wildlife in what is today Tuckahoe State Park.
The park has a devoted following, in part because there are so many ways to enjoy it. Equestrians, hikers and mountain bikers can enjoy more than 15 miles of wooded trails. Hunters find plentiful game, including turkeys in the spring and deer and waterfowl in the fall.
Campers can rent a cabin, pitch a tent or bring their RV. Youth group camping is available, as is a rope challenge course for team-building events and family fun days.
But the waters that define the park are its biggest draw.
Tuckahoe Creek originates from headwater streams just across the Delaware border. Its name comes from the abundance of arrow arum, a sturdy wetland plant with arrow-shaped leaves commonly called "tuckahoe."
For approximately eight miles of its course toward the Bay, the creek runs through the heart of the park, embraced by wetlands on either shore. In the upper stretch, wooded wetlands create a maze of watery paths in and around mature trees, still deep enough for paddling.
Wooded wetlands have defined this land for centuries, and it has changed very little. Evidence of American Indians has been found in the park, and a gristmill once stood along the creek, giving the main access route - Crouse's Mill Road - its name.
Frederick Douglass, famous for escaping slavery and for his bold defense of human rights, was born in a log cabin along Tuckahoe Creek.
But water, not history, was the motivation for creating Tuckahoe State Park. The state began purchasing the land along the creek in the 1960s.Park planners hoped to dam Tuckahoe Creek and create a lake filling approximately 300 acres.
Geology - and a big tree - derailed their plans.The lake would have relied largely on seepage for its water supply. The intake would not have been strong enough to consistently fill a large lake. Also, the lack of flow would have created algae problems in the shallows.
Then planners discovered an enormous overcup oak, a National Champion Tree: the largest of its kind in the continental United States. The oak had grown to such an impressive size because it stood in the marsh and humans had left it alone.
Officially, the Tuckahoe Lake covers 60 acres but only 20 acres are open water. The rest is a watery maze of trees and scrubby vegetation, dense with birds and other wildlife.
The lake is the starting point for most paddlers and boaters. Fishermen often take to the lake in boats with electric motors, sharing a launch area with paddlers. Those traveling by canoe or kayak can explore beyond the lake.
Most people wind their way upstream along the creek, traveling through two miles of wooded wetlands toward the campground. This route is known as the Mason Branch Water Trail.
Others launch by a small bridge, just below the dam and paddle toward town. This 5.2-mile route, the Tuckahoe Creek Water Trail, is best in spring and fall when the water is higher.
Tuckahoe State Park is listed by the National Audubon Society as an Important Bird Area, especially for its showings of neotropical birds like the prothonotary warbler.
With so many options for relaxing, exercising and exploring this Eastern Shore ecosystem, new visitors may soon list Tuckahoe State Park among their favorites. They may also be grateful for encountering a secluded wooded wetland whose wildlife and wonders have remained so persistently its own.
This is an abridged article originally published in the Bay Journal.