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Matapeake State Park is a public recreation area on Chesapeake Bay occupying the site of a former ferry landing in Matapeake, Kent Island, Maryland. The former ferry landing, which is now used as a fishing pier, served the state-owned Chesapeake Bay Ferry System before the Chesapeake Bay Bridge opened. Park grounds include the restored ferry house. The park is leased and managed by Queen Anne's County.
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HistoryEdit
The park land was first acquired by the state in 1941 with the purchase of the Claiborne-Annapolis Ferry Company, which became the Chesapeake Bay Ferry System. The Sandy Point-Matapeake Ferry, which had used the land as a landing, was discontinued in 1952. Afterwards, uses for the land by the state included a shooting range and a building housing a scale model of the Chesapeake Bay. The bay model was made obsolete by computer simulations, and the building was left vacant. Following the 2003 collapse of the building during that year's Presidents' Day snowstorm, the county resumed renovation of the ferry terminal building and renamed it Matapeake Clubhouse. The Matapeake Clubhouse and adjoining public beach opened to the public in May 2009.
Activities and amenitiesEdit
The park offers a swimming beach, amphitheater, trails, picnicking area, dog beach, and views of the Bay Bridge. It is the northern terminus of the paved Kent Island South Trail, which extends 6 miles (9.7 km) from the park to Romancoke Pier.
