Cypress Branch State Park; Millington, Maryland

 

Cypress Branch State Park

10803 Galena Road, Millington, MD 21651
GPS Coordinates (near entrance): 39.271671, -75.836960
Headquarters: (410) 820-1668

Hours: 8am – Sunset

Cypress Branch State Park is one of Maryland’s newest state parks, having opened in April 2022. The state purchased the former Wick farm and plant nursery in 2014 and combined it with the existing state-owned Big Mill Pond Fish Management Area to create this 314-acre park. Management of the park is provided by employees based at Tuckahoe State Park (Caroline & Queen Anne’s Counties).

The main entrance lane comes in from Route 313/Galena Road is the original farm entrance so is a graveled/dirt road and angles southeast, providing access to the two small fishing ponds and a parking area near the entrance. There is a little library, several small groupings of picnic tables and a portable restroom.

We went to this park on a beautiful end-of-the-summer day and enjoyed all that it had to offer. The agricultural fields have been left to become meadows, but it also has some deciduous forest portions as well as some wetlands as two streams flow through the park. Edmonds Creek enters the park from the northwest and the larger Cypress Branch enters the park from the northeast. The two streams join just south of the park, and Cypress Branch continues flowing south to become a tributary of the Chester River. There was evidence of fishing at one of the ponds at the northwest corner of the park as a fishing net was left near the entrance and main visitor area where the portable restroom is located. On the eastern edge of the park lies the much larger Big Mill Pond, covering about 33 acres, formed by damming Cypress Branch, and the smaller Little Mill Pond on Edmonds Creek. The streams and the Mill Ponds create a marshy habitat.

Beyond the entrance area, the "trails" are the old lanes that were created when the land was a operating farm and vehicles are not allowed in this eastern section of the park. Just past the fishing ponds is the railroad track that runs north-south. In order to continue, you need to cross the tracks, but as this is an active railroad line you will need to observe extreme caution. On the east side of the tracks, the dirt lane continues to the southeast, entering the woods adjacent to Big Mill Pond. The pond here varies according to how much rainfall there has been, and can be mostly a dry bed with plants.

There are other farm lanes that crisscross or circle the fields, additional hikes in a beautiful natural setting. Visitors are free to explore wherever they like. We could not finish all the trails in one day, but we were just enjoying the leisurely day, taking the time to sit and rest, and some nature journaling. There was also another couple there picnicking, and we decided that we might bring a picnic lunch there next time we go.

Cypress Branch State Park is being managed as a Natural Resources Management Area (NRMA) – this designation is used for state parks with significant or unique natural resources, including rare, threatened, and endangered species. A goal is to preserve and protect the natural resources and biological diversity while providing public access and recreation.

Pet Policy:

Pets are allowed on leash; pick up after your pet. They had pet disposal bags available there as well as a place to leave the bags, although, at the time it was unfortunately filled with general trash.

Special Features:

A brick farmhouse on the south side of the fishing pond is listed on the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties. The house is named “London Bridge” and was the centerpiece of a farm of the same name which was laid out on part of the original land grant that encompassed what is now the town of Millington (formerly known as Head of Chester). The original part of the house was built in the late 1700s but the house was extensively expanded and renovated over the years. It is considered to be one of the oldest residences in Millington. Source: MD Inventory of Historic Properties, Record K-169.

Directions:

It is 19 miles from Betterton, and takes approximately 28 minutes to get there via MD-298.