Greenbelt Park is a park in

Greenbelt A green belt or greenbelt is a policy, and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or gree ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, that is managed by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

as part of National Capital Parks East. The

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

lies approximately 10 miles (16 km) northeast of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and is situated just within the

Capital Beltway The Capital Beltway, designated as Interstate 495 (I-495) for its entire length, is an List of auxiliary Interstate Highways, auxiliary Interstate Highway in the Washington metropolitan area. The Ring road, beltway encircles Washington, D.C., ...

(which bounds the park to the northeast). The park land was originally intended to form part of the

green belt A green belt or greenbelt is a policy, and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wilderness, wild, or agricultural landscape, land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts ...

surrounding the city of Greenbelt. The southern portion was assigned to the National Park Service, thus forming the park, while another section became part of the

Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center The Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC), also known as the National Agricultural Research Center, is a unit of the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service. It is located in unincorpora ...

(BARC).

Recreational facilities include a 5.3 mile (8.5 km) mile

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

and

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or a small paved road (though it can also be a route along a navigable waterways) generally not intended for usage by motorized vehicles, usually passing through a natural area. Ho ...

, several shorter nature trails, numerous

campsite Campsite, campground, and camping pitch are all related terms regarding a place used for camping (an overnight stay in an outdoor area). The usage differs between British English and American English. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an ...

s, and three

picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors (Al fresco dining, ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event su ...

areas. The park received its National Park designation in 1950, and was acquired along with the land that would form the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, which divides the park in a roughly north–south direction. Nearly all of the park's facilities are located within the larger western portion (the eastern portion has one fire road).

References

External links

*
Birds of Greenbelt Park
and the

Baltimore–Washington Parkway The Baltimore–Washington Parkway (also referred to as the B–W Parkway) is a controlled-access parkway in the U.S. state of Maryland, running southwest from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. The road begins at an interchange with U.S. Route&n ...

at the

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an government agency, agency of the United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geograp ...

Patuxent Wildlife Research Center The Patuxent Wildlife Research Center is a biological research center in Laurel, Maryland, part of the Eastern Ecological Science Center (EESC) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The EESC is the largest of the 15 USGS research centers. The Pa ...

*
Greenbelt Park
at the

National Parks Conservation Association The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) is the only independent, nonpartisan membership organization devoted exclusively to advocacy on behalf of the National Parks System. Its mission is "to protect and enhance America's National Pa ...

Greenbelt Park
at the

National Park Foundation The National Park Foundation (NPF) is the official charity of the National Park Service (NPS) and its national park sites. The NPF was chartered by Congress in 1967 with a charge to "further the conservation of natural, scenic, historic, scientif ...

NPSpecies for Greenbelt Park
— Park Species List from the

Greenbelt Park
at Recreation.gov {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenbelt Park, Maryland Protected areas of Prince George's County, Maryland National Park Service areas in Maryland National Capital Parks-East Greenbelt, Maryland Parks in Prince George's County, Maryland Protected areas established in 1950 1950 establishments in Maryland