Best Tent Camping near Germantown, MD
Walk-in and primitive tent camping options can be found throughout the public lands surrounding Germantown, Maryland. Marsden Tract Group Campsite in the George Washington Memorial Parkway offers tent-only sites with basic amenities, while Seneca Creek State Park Campground provides tent camping just 5 miles west of Germantown. The Adventure Park at Sandy Spring, located northeast of town, features walk-in tent sites with drinking water and fire rings. For backcountry tent camping experiences, Annapolis Rock Campground along the Appalachian Trail offers primitive sites with vault toilets approximately 25 miles northwest of Germantown.
Most tent campsites in the region feature dirt or gravel pads with minimal grading. Marsden Tract requires a short hike to reach the sites and provides picnic tables, fire rings, and vault toilets, but campers must pack out all trash. Patapsco Valley State Park's Hilton Area, though farther from Germantown, offers tent-only sites with crushed stone pads. According to one camper, "The crushed stone at the sites isn't comfortable for tents, so bring extra pads and alternative ways to secure the tent to the ground." Sites along the C&O Canal, such as Swains Lock and Horsepen Branch, provide primitive tent camping with water pumps that dispense iodine-treated water that should be filtered or boiled before drinking.
Tent campers frequently use these areas as bases for hiking and paddling adventures. The C&O Canal hiker-biker campsites offer riverside tent camping with varying levels of privacy. One visitor noted, "The sites are flat and dispersed with most located adjacent to the river. Each site comes with a picnic table, fire ring and grill." At Antietam Creek Campground, campers park on the road and walk about 75 feet to their sites, which can be challenging with heavy gear. Sites along the Potomac provide shade and river views, though some campers report train noise at night. For those seeking more seclusion, the backcountry tent sites at Annapolis Rock require a significant uphill hike but reward campers with spectacular views from the 1,700-foot elevation.
