Paddle Mattaponi Creek

Enter the winding Mattaponi Creek from Jug Bay.

F Delventhal

Summary 

Duration: 3.5 miles
Estimated time: 2-4 hours

Launch at the Patuxent River Park’s Selby’s Landing, at the lower end of Jug Bay. Paddle downriver a quarter-mile and turn right into Mattaponi Creek.

Trip Details & History

This meandering waterway looks very much as it would have in the 1600s. Thanks to the Patuxent River Park, which owns the right bank, and the Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary (MD DNR), which owns the left, the watershed of the creek is still almost all wooded, providing the kind of “Great Green Filter” that made the Chesapeake’s tidal waters so rich 400 years ago. 

Paddling upstream, you’ll find the first mile of the creek to be marshy on both sides. There are rich, diverse tidal fresh marshes. The high land that begins to appear on the Merkle side is the site of Mattapanient, an Indigenous town which Captain John Smith and his crew visited. If before your trip, you study a map or Google Earth, you’ll notice that it looks out over a very large marsh that lies on the inside of the river’s curve opposite Lyons Creek, with commanding views both up- and down-river and landings on both the upstream and downstream edges.

Back on the creek, you will come soon to tiny White Oak Landing, now part of the Sanctuary but probably in use by humans since time immemorial. All that’s there today is an abandoned cinderblock shed, but it’s a good place to stop and stretch your legs.

From White Oak Landing up, Mattaponi Creek winds back and forth between marsh and woods, gradually getting shallower, with increasingly large beds of underwater grasses. You may not like the way they slow down your boat, but thank them for the habitat and food they provide for fish and birds. You’ll pass under the wooden bridge for the Critical Areas Driving Tour, but otherwise the creek will look much as it must have when the people of Mattapanient hunted, fished, and foraged it.

For an Extra Challenge...

On the return to the creek’s mouth, if the weather is fit and you have enough energy and skill, consider paddling downstream a half-mile, around the first curve (opposite Lyons Creek, where Captain Smith mapped the town of Quactataugh) and exploring up into one of the marsh guts that extend into the Merkle/Mattapanient marsh. These guts wind well back in, while bankside stands of 7’-tall big cordgrass make you feel you’re paddling up a tunnel. In the fall, you may surprise flocks of mallard and black ducks that rest and feed there (and they’ll surprise you, as they explode off the water right in front of your boat!).

Details

Duration

2 Hours

Activity

Paddling

Pets Allowed

Yes

Must be leashed. 

Activity Fee

No

Entrance fees may apply, see Fees & Passes information.

Location

Mattaponi Creek

Selby’s Landing
17272 Croom Airport Rd, Upper Marlboro MD, 20772
Located at Jug Bay Natural Area. Follow Croom Airport Road (past park entrance road) to a dead end, turn left and follow the road to the designated area. Parking limitation – 25 vehicles with trailers. Personal watercraft (jet skis) are not permitted. Access to the launch is available during normal park hours, 8:00 am – close (seasonal).

Reservations

Yes

Reserve kayaks here: Patuxent River Park - Park and Recreation - Prince Georges County MD (pgparks.com)

Season

Year Round

Open daily, 8:00 a.m to sunset

Time of Day

Day

Open daily, 8:00 a.m to sunset

Accessibility Information

The launch site has wheel chair access. 
Call the office at [phone] if you have specific questions.