Boating the Patuxent River

Native Americans on the Patuxent

Indigenous people were the Patuxent's first inhabitants, having lived in the region for at least 10,000 years. The Patuxent is home to some of the most significant archeological sites in the Chesapeake region. Archeologists theorize that sites along the Patuxent were centers of ceremony and trade that extended well beyond the borders of the watershed. If you find an artifact as you hike or boat along the river, take a picture, but leave the artifact in place where it was found.

John Smith Documents the Patuxent in 1608

Early European visitors to the Patuxent included Spanish and English explorers. In early August, 1608, after his encounters with the Massawomeck, Tockwogh, and Susquehannock people at the Head of the Chesapeake, Captain John Smith and his crew turned their Discovery Barge south. Sailing along the Eastern Shore, they passed and mapped Kent Island, Sharps Island (then very much above water), and Tilghman Island, the mouth of the Choptank, and James and Taylors Islands. Then they crossed the Bay, “fell with the River Pawtuxunt,” noted that its mouth was six fathoms deep (36’, enough for a ship), and followed it north.

Smith hardly mentions the Discovery Barge’s trip up the Patuxent, but it’s easy to figure where he and his crew went from the details on his map. It shows the river’s King’s House (home of the local tayac, or Paramount Chief) at Pawtuxunt, at the head of today’s Battle Creek, where the town’s people probably took advantage of the cypress swamp (See Trailheads below) that furnished them with game, edible plants, and light, rot-resistant tree trunks for dugout canoes.

In his True Relation, Smith says that the Pawtuxunt Chief and his people treated him and his crew kindly. Based on what historians and anthropologists tell us about Native culture and protocol, it’s probable that they feasted the Englishmen there and briefed them about what they would find upriver.

Smith and his men spent only two-and-a-half days in the Patuxent before heading down to the Rappahannock, but they clearly “got it.” A close look at the map tells the story. It shows over a dozen Indian towns and uncanny detail of the Patuxent’s meanders up to today’s Lyons Creek, which forms the boundary between Calvert and Anne Arundel Counties on the east side of the river, and Mattaponi Creek on the west (Prince George’s Co.) side just upstream. Above those points, the map degenerates into a perfunctory scribble.

The uppermost Indigenous towns on Smith’s map are Mattapanient, on the high ground at the base of a large marsh, and Quactataugh on the opposite side, at the mouth of Lyons Creek. Mattapanient today is the Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Upstream is Jug Bay, a broad and shallow body of water whose wooded shores are protected by Prince George’s County’s Patuxent River Park on the west side and Anne Arundel’s Jug Bay Wetland Sanctuary on the east.

This part of the Patuxent is still affected by the river’s tides, but it is far enough upstream to be fresh water in all but the severest droughts. Because of the work of the two counties and Maryland Department of Natural Resources, it still offers some excellent views of water, marsh, and forest, and access is excellent for recreation in a variety of watercraft. Even better, there are interesting things to see and do in all but the coldest weather. It’s hard to believe that this well-preserved network of protected woodland and marsh is only twenty-five miles due east of Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, but that proximity makes it all the more valuable to people seeking natural areas in the busy Baltimore-Washington corridor.

Downriver, the Patuxent remains pastoral and largely agricultural, with a scattering of communities like Nottingham and Lower Marlboro, most of them on the sites of Indian villages that later became colonial American towns. After the Revolutionary War, the river was also the corridor for a major running naval battle in the War of 1812. Visit the website of the Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail for more on that campaign. In the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, the wharves of those river towns held depots and warehouses for the steamboat lines that ran to Baltimore.Since the boats stopped running in the 1930s, though, traffic on the river has subsided.Now the river’s proximity to Washington guarantees plenty of weekend boaters.

Below Benedict, the Patuxent widens considerably, with a number of large old estates along the banks, including the Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum. Interspersed with them are suburban developments whose residents commute either to Washington or to the huge Patuxent Naval Air Station at the river’s mouth. At the mouth on the north side is the busy harbor of Solomons Island, which has made a century-long transition from seafood packing and boatbuilding to recreational boating services, charter fishing, and scientific research, as documented well by the Calvert Marine Museum.

The tidal Patuxent is a river under considerable pressure from heavy suburban development at its headwaters in the busy Baltimore-Washington Corridor. Restoring its health is an ongoing challenge.

For starters, visit the website of the Patuxent Water Trail, a broad community partnership that illustrates the number of friends the river has working to restore its health. Then check out these valuable trailheads.

• Patuxent River Park, Upper Marlboro, MD, 38 degrees 46’23” N, 76 degrees 42’37” W (Park Office & Jacksons Landing), 38 degrees 45’09” N, 76 degrees 41’59” W (Selby’s Landing), 38 degrees 38’24” N, 76 degrees 41’40” W (Clyde Watson Boat Ramp, Magruder's Ferry), (accessible kayak launch, bathroom, paved trails, ramp fee)
• Kings Landing Park, Huntingtown, MD, 38 degrees 37’31” N, 76 degrees 40’31” W (See park map HERE.)
• Boat Ramp, Hallowing Point, MD, 38 degrees 30’36” N, 76 degrees 39’53” W (MD DNR)
• Battle Creek Cypress Swamp Sanctuary, 38 degrees 29’29” N, 76 degrees 35’23” W
• Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum, 38 degrees 23’59” N, 76 degrees 30’24” W
• Solomons Boat Ramp, 38 degrees 19’43” N, 76 degrees 28’04” W (MD DNR)

Paddle Craft (Canoes & Kayaks)

Canoes and kayaks are excellent for exploring the shorelines of Jug Bay, and for paddling up Mattaponi Creek, which is bordered on one side by the Patuxent River Park and on the other by the Merkle Wildlife Management Area. The marsh creeks downriver around the Clyde Watson Boat Ramp at Magruder’s Ferry and Kings Landing are also well worth exploring.

Below Benedict, the river itself is large and powerful, with considerable traffic from recreational boats on weekends in warm weather. If you’re an experienced and physically fit sea kayaker, by all means explore all of it you want, but you already know the cautions you must exercise to stay safe. If you’re a novice or intermediate paddler, keep to shorter trips like Mattaponi, launching at the Patuxent River Park’s Selby’s Landing. It’s a classic.

Skiffs & Runabouts

Outboard skiffs and runabouts of 14-20’ length can explore both tidal creeks and the river’s main stem. Skippers of these boats should carry pushpoles to allow nosing into a marsh edge or two, and make sure that they and their passengers are equipped and clothed to deal with mud flats and submerged logs. Also remember that above Benedict, there aren’t many people to call if you get stuck, break down, or run out of fuel. Below there, the main river’s broad, open waters can get surprisingly choppy. It pays to be prepared, and to keep your itineraries within your skills. Remember that even short trips can reveal beautiful, fascinating places here.

Cruising Boats

Cruising sail- and powerboats of all sorts routinely travel the lower Patuxent, especially if they are equipped with seaworthy dinghies and canoes or kayaks. Historic St. Leonard Creek is an especially popular anchorage.

Unfortunately, the river offers no marina services above Benedict, and the bridge there restricts passage further upstream by sailboats. Thus, cruisers are completely on their own. The river carries plenty of depth, but the unmarked channels wind and twist, with shallow shoulders that are all too easy to run aground on. They are also narrow, with strong currents. Choosing an overnight anchorage means making sure that there is enough water to swing as the tide and current change.

If, in view of these difficulties, spending the night up the river sounds too challenging, consider tying up at or anchoring off Benedict one evening, then taking a day trip the next morning, traveling up the river and back. The upper Patuxent is a lovely, interesting river, and much of it looks at least similar to the river's historic appearance.