The good: Parking was spacious, free and had shaded spots…read more It was a short walk from the parking lot to the beach. The path was lined with tanbark. It's a small beach with a short shore and there is shallow water. I saw herons and folks using metal detectors. The sandy area had cool shells and some interesting bugs. I liked that there was a clean bathroom between the parking lot and the beach. There were picnic tables on the sand where we enjoyed snacks. They were shaded so it was nice. The bad: There are lots of jelly fish that can definitely sting so you basically cannot get into the water. No tents are allowed. The interesting: I saw lots of dogs here running around in the water. It looks very dog-friendly despite other reviews saying there are signs that don't allow dogs.

Quick note for potential beach goers: Only single-pole beach umbrellas are allowed on the beach. We…read morekind of learned the hard way that beach tents are not allowed. Originally, we were interested in Matapeake Beach because of the dog beach. However for our first visit (of hopefully many visits), we decided to leave the dog at home because it was super hot. But, I think in the future, we will take the dog if we can arrive to the beach around 8 am. The second reason we were interested in this beach: It is fairly close to Silver Spring, MD. With a departure of 9am, we arrived at the beach around 10 am on a summer weekday. For the most part, we did not experience too much traffic (on a weekday) in both directions Silver Spring-Matapeake-Silver Spring. Also, I think there were 1-2 tolls in each directions. Overall, I thought the beach/park was very clean and well-maintained. I'll note that there are not very many amenities (if any) on or near the beach the beach (e.g., food vendors), which necessarily was not a bad thing for me. Although parking is limited, it is free (a very pleasant surprise) as of June 2025. I'm not 100% sure, but I think there were like 50 (or less) parking spaces. Since we visited on a weekday, we did not have any trouble finding a spot in the parking lot. However, I can imagine that parking my be a bit of a nightmare on weekends and holidays. Also, the access to the beach was free (another pleasant surprise). The folks at the beach were pretty friendly and respectful of their surroundings -- for instance, I did not hear super loud music (just the soundtrack of waves, a few dogs barking, and a few kids playing); see people acting a plum fool; notice substantial litter (or other not so fun things) on the beach. Even though we were disappointed that we had to take down our beach tent, the park ranger was super nice about it. The water was a pretty smooth with little to no waves so it is nice for little humans and dogs. I think I had to walk about 0.25 miles to get to a point where the water was waist level to me, but that was a VERY minor inconvenience. Overall, I think this is a great beach for a quick day (or half a day) trip.

Mowbray Park is right next to Matapeake School Complex and offers a lot of outside fun for kids of…read moreall ages. 2 age appropriate playgrounds (with disability access swings and ramps) as well as tennis courts, 2 baseball diamonds, a pavilion, and bathrooms. Dogs on leash welcome

Beautiful park! Sat outside and red my book for a bit. Very clean park with lots of parking and…read moreit's easy to get to. Will definitely be frequenting again.

A quiet bit of sanctuary off the beaten path. A dog friendly preserve, but please be respectful of…read morethe native inhabitants.

We arrived on Thursday morning and this particular center is only open on the weekend so we…read morecouldn't get a stamp for our book. It's strange because normally these are not open on the weekend so it was refreshing that this one is even if we did miss it. No worries we will send an email in for our stamp. This island is very large, and full of life. Jeff says You can smell the crabs lololol I thought more like a worm farm. Seen wild turkeys, birds, water and ducks. Unfortunately not the greatest weather but we will still take it. #88 in the books

Excellent spot for birding…read more It's not as visited as other places so taking photos/videos of wildlife is easy. I came into contact with perhaps 3 other human beings. It's winter now, of course, but that's when you can see more birds because they're wintering here. I was able to observe for the first time many tundra swans, with their distinctive black bills; what a treat. Also, terns, yellowlegs, sandpipers, herons, egrets, snipes, plovers, gulls and a large number of ducks, including a hooded merganser which I hadn't seen before -- so striking. Enjoyed Tubby Cove and Box Point. Took walks on a variety of trails. The refuge is 2,285 acres and that makes this place nice and quiet. The local history is interesting too, well, at least I think so. Eastern Neck is just my speed.

We came to Sandy Point State Park on an off season day. When you look at the photos on social…read moremedia, you create a visual in your mind. On this day, the weather was less than ideal. Hence, there were very few visitors in the park. When we pulled up, no one was at the toll booth. You just made your payment to park and you were on your way. If you use my photos as a reference, you can see exactly what type of day it was. It was no more than 50 degrees with low clouds and light rain. Visibility wasn't the best. After we parked our car, we started to walk around the property. The booths were closed and the only people that we saw were a family playing on the playground and a parent taking his son fishing. A park ranger came by and parked next to our car but when we came back, he drove off. He was trying to figure out why we were there. When you walk down the path, you'll notice that the sand is a rusty color. I've seen wet sand in California, but the sand at this state park was different in color. All of the sand was also soaking wet due the rising tides. You can see bridge across the water and a boat or two on the water. The winds were blowing and the water was choppy. You definitely weren't out on the water unless it was work-related. Sandy Point has a plaque in which it outlines the history of this area. It was once a segregated beach. Things have changed for the better and now everyone gets to enjoy the area. When I saw photos from summer months in this area, Sandy Point is the place to be.Maybe we will come back during the summer months for a different experience, so that we can enjoy it, just like the locals.

BLUF: Lights on the Bay is a fun experience but I'm otherwise not a fan of this park…read more Truth be told, I have not been to Sandy Point State Park during the day in over 25 years. It didn't leave a good impression back then so now I stick to visiting at Christmas time to see Lights on the Bay. Lights on the Bay is fun and I would give it five stars so my three-star review reflects the overall experience of Sandy Point State Park. For $20, you can drive a car full of friends and family through the park to see the lights. I feel like they really stepped it up in 2025 and I was more than glad to make that donation, via the $20 entrance fee, to the SPCA. Another fun way to see Lights on the Bay is via bike. There is a local club that organizes a ride in early December - they deck out their bikes and take a leisurely, albeit chilly, ride through the grounds.