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

    Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network

    DC,MD,NY,PA,VA,WV

Explore the Chesapeake

Through the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network, and the Star-Spangled Banner and Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trails, NPS helps you learn, love, and care about the Chesapeake and rivers.  Take a boat ride, bike a trail, sit by the Susquehanna, slurp an oyster, camp under the stars, and enjoy scenery that looks much like it did hundreds of years ago.

Features

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

    Take a voyage with Captain John Smith

    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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  • Jamestown interpreter helps kids unfurl sails

    94 NPS Places around the Chesapeake

    Historic and scenic trails, national monuments and battlefields, and national parks - there are 94 NPS places to explore in the Chesapeake watershed!

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Did You Know?

Satellite image of the Bay

Did you know that the Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in North American and the second largest in the world?