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Cedarville State Forest

Cedarville State Forest, near Washington, D.C., is a solid choice for campers looking to escape the hustle and bustle of city life without straying too far from urban conveniences. This campground offers a mix of tent and RV sites, complete with picnic tables and fire rings, making it a cozy spot for evening gatherings.

The area is known for its beautiful hiking trails, perfect for those who want to stretch their legs and soak in nature. Visitors have praised the well-maintained paths and the peaceful surroundings, with one camper noting, “Awesome Trails” that are “very quiet.” If you’re in need of firewood, you can conveniently purchase it on-site, and the rangers are known to be accommodating if you need a little extra.

While the sites can be a bit close together, many campers appreciate the friendly vibe and the easy access to amenities. The bathhouse is generally clean, though some have mentioned it can run out of supplies. Plus, you’re just a stone's throw away from shopping options like Target and Costco for any last-minute needs.

Cedarville State Forest is a great spot for a quick getaway, especially if you enjoy hiking and the outdoors. Just be prepared for the occasional noise from nearby aircraft, as the campground is close to Andrews Air Force Base. Whether you're a seasoned camper or just starting out, this place has a little something for everyone.

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Location

Cedarville State Forest is located in Maryland

Detail location of campground

Directions

From Annapolis: Follow Route 50 West to Route 301 South. From Route 301 South travel to Cedarville Road (at the very end of Prince George's County). At traffic light, take a left on Cedarville Road. As a landmark there will be a large white warehouse located on the left hand side. Take Cedarville Road to Bee Oak Road (on your right) which will be the main entrance to the forest.

Address

10201 Bee Oak Rd
Brandywine, MD 20613

Coordinates

38.64989654 N
76.81302875 W

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Access

  • Drive-In
    Park next to your site
  • Walk-In
    Park in a lot, walk to your site.
  • Hike-In
    Backcountry sites.

Stay Connected

  • WiFi
    Available
  • Verizon
    Unknown
  • AT&T
    Available
  • T-Mobile
    Unknown

Site Types

  • Tent Sites
  • RV Sites
  • Standard (Tent/RV)
  • Dispersed
  • Group
  • Equestrian

Features

For Campers

  • Market
  • ADA Access
  • Trash
  • Picnic Table
  • Firewood Available
  • Phone Service
  • Reservable
  • Showers
  • Drinking Water
  • Electric Hookups
  • Toilets
  • Pets
  • Fires

For Vehicles

  • Sanitary Dump

Reviews

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4.0

out of 5

17 Reviews

Reviewed Oct. 15, 2022

Great beginner’s campground

Forested campground with fairly lengthy but level (and thus beginner friendly) hiking just a short distance away from Washington, DC.

If you’ve forgotten anything you can pop on by the Target or Costco right outside the forest.

Also, you can purchase wood while checking in and the Rangers don’t mind if you take a bit extra. Just bring your own starters and kindling (or a small hatchet/saw).

Planes do occasionally fly over the area so consider bringing earplugs if you are a sensitive sleeper. The noise wasn’t really noticeable when I went on a Saturday (the neighboring campsite’s dogs were louder).

SiteTent Camping Site 3
Month of VisitOctober
  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by moonbeans , October 15, 2022
Reviewed Oct. 11, 2022

Small but peaceful

We stayed here in the family campground for 3 nights in mid-October. The sites are very small and you sit very close to the camp loop road. Our site was #16 and it was very flat and easy to back a 30’ RV into. Most of the sites have very little distance between them. You’re really on top of your neighbors at this place! We didn’t see a camp host until we left on Monday. The bath house was pretty clean but out of TP frequently (both mens and womens rooms.) There is no camp sink, which was a bummer. There are lots of water spigots around the loop, however. Plenty of firewood when we arrived Friday night, but was totally gone by Saturday morning when we took the dog out at 7am. It was mostly replenished by Saturday night. No kindling, however, just the logs. $5 per crate (honor box, cash only of course.) The ranger station was closed when we arrived and when we left so we couldn’t check out the nature center. There are some really nice trails accessible from the loop. Dog friendly! We’ll stay here again if nowhere else is available, but it’s just too tight of a campground for our taste.

Site16
Month of VisitOctober
Reviewed Jun. 13, 2022

Tickville Otherwise nice

We arrived on a Sunday. Very quiet, many open RV spots around us. We had site 18. Which is next to one of the water spigots. The idea is to use it to fill up tanks. Ranger let us know not to stay hooked up to it. 30 amp electric. No issues there. Lots of trails but in June at least the ticks were waaaay too plentiful.

Site18
Month of VisitJune
  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Joe C., June 13, 2022
  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Joe C., June 13, 2022
Reviewed May. 1, 2022

Great Hiking but cold showers

Weekend trip with our Aliner went well. Site was clean and electric worked. Nice gravel paths leading to the bath house.

Pros-Hiking trails are beautiful. We will return with our MTB. Pretty quiet campground. We had tent and trailer neighbors (Inner loop is electric hook ups, outer is tent camping). Sites are spaced well.

Cons- No ranger to be found. If you had an issue this could be a problem. Bath House showers went from hot to freezing randomly. After our second ice cold shower we gave up. Finally, there is no dish cleaning station. Plenty of water spouts but no hot water for cleaning. Maybe we couldn’t find it but other campers didn’t find it either.

Over all it was a nice campground for a quick visit. Definitely worth checking out.

Site18
Month of VisitMay
  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Mary N., May 1, 2022
  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Mary N., May 1, 2022
  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Mary N., May 1, 2022
  • (8) View All
Reviewed May. 1, 2022

Decent getaway, close to the big city

Very convenient spot near the DC area. You wouldn’t know it, but there’s literally a massive junkyard and industrial areas about 2 miles from the park. I’d rate it a 3.5 if given the option

It’s a nice wooded area. Some of the campsites are close together, others are spaced better. All sites are covered in varying levels of gravel. The campground ring road is narrow, not much room to navigate when backing a camper into sites. The sites inside the loop have electric hookups. I did not notice pull through sites, did not see a camp store. Firewood is self serve, honor system.

As others noted, due to it’s proximity to Andrews AFB you are going to get lots of helicopters, jets and transport planes flying around day and into the night.

When they are not buzzing around in flying contraptions it can be peaceful and quiet.

Bathhouse is small but clean, there is hot water. No dishwashing station. Seemed like they had just added some new H2O pumps around the camping area. The pavilions have new picnic tables.

Some good hiking trails in the park, you might come across people on horseback. I saw birds, frogs, deer, a rabbit and too many snakes while hiking. Looks like they have archery practice ranges, not sure how that works if people are hiking. I could hear a fair amount of gunfire while hiking. Guessing there’s a target practice area as it’s not hunting season.

Did not see a camp host. The rangers cruise around a few times a day.

Site21
Month of VisitApril
  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Candace and Sean B., May 1, 2022
  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Candace and Sean B., May 1, 2022
  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Candace and Sean B., May 1, 2022
  • (11) View All
Reviewed Apr. 5, 2022

Awesome Trails

This was a great place to stay. Very quiet and with some amazing trails within walking distance. Very well laid out and excellent signage.

Reviewed Oct. 4, 2021

Peaceful

We picked up the camping registration outside the office at the entrance, no need to speak with anyone. Then we just drove down to our campsite in the family camping loop. We could hear and smell horses when we got to our campsite, but it didn't last forever. 

The site was mostly clean, had a few pieces of small trash scattered around when we arrived. The sites were decently spaced out from one another, it didn't feel like we were right on top of the people across and next to us. Our site was close to the restroom, it had a little path leading to the restroom, and it looked like there was little trail paths all around leading to the restrooms from the different parts of the loop. The path leading to the restroom from our site was gravel and easy to walk on. The restrooms were clean, but the floor was wet almost the entire time we were there (likely due to the showers).

If you need to buy wood it is $5 for 8 pieces and you call a number given to you in your registration packet. The ranger will then drive by and drop off the wood at your campsite. The inner ring of this loop has electricity, and the electric box was just on the far side of the picnic table in the corner.

Site8
Month of VisitOctober
  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Rachel , October 4, 2021
  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Rachel , October 4, 2021
Reviewed Sep. 30, 2021

Family vacation

Nice park. Shower room was very nicely kept, nice paths from each campsite to restrooms. Nice quiet place close enough to everything you would need.

Site6
Month of VisitAugust
Reviewed Jun. 18, 2021

Pretty and relatively private sites

Cedarville State Forest is located in Charles Co., MD. It's near Waldorf which offers amenities that you might need. The campground is one loop with 27 mostly spacious sites. Some of the sites were not well tended and had tall grasses while others seemed better groomed. Most were level but some were more steep front to back. Each site had a pretty good gravel area, picnic tables and firepits. Cedarville State Forest offers lots of outdoor activities, none of which we tried, but we saw archery and rifle ranges, lots of hiking trails as well.  Some of the roads around the state forest were in very bad repair. There were pot holes inside of potholes which made the drive around the area very uncomfortable. Overall, it's a nice campground that had availability just a few weeks out which is hard to come by these days!

Month of VisitJune
  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Laure D., June 18, 2021
  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Laure D., June 18, 2021
  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Laure D., June 18, 2021
  • (16) View All
Reviewed Apr. 12, 2021

Nice campground

Great campground hidden away in the city. Clean sites include table and fire pit. Restrooms were clean, closed daily for cleaning between 1 pm - 3 pm. Two showers were included but didn’t use it so not sure about pressure or heat. The ranger delivers firewood to your site within about 10-15 min of calling, which was very convenient. Cost was $5 for 8 logs. Dump station and trash were just outside of the loop. Site 6 was good but not for larger rigs. We have a pop up and had to navigate around a tree that would have been very difficult for larger rigs. Site 5 or 7 wouldn’t have that problem. Bring bug and tick spray - definitely need it! We hiked the brown trail and it was a nice walk. We have AT&T and had two bars pretty consistently. We would stay here again.

  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Nurse N., April 12, 2021
  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Nurse N., April 12, 2021
  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Nurse N., April 12, 2021
  • (4) View All
Reviewed Aug. 26, 2020

Mosquitos, Overgrown & Quiet

We chose this campground based on proximity to work. This campground was priced fairly, however, it does come with its downfalls.

PROS

Let me start with the positive, we were 1 of 3 campers in this loop during our week-long stay. This made it peaceful and quiet. 

CONS

It's close to a Naval base, and therefore you constantly hear airplanes, and helicopters at all times. 

Other than the daily bathroom cleaning, this campground lacks maintenance on sites and walkways. They are both overgrown. 

Playground, fishing, archery all seem blocked off at this time. 

Trails seem open but are across and through hunting areas. They are also muddy from the rain. There is even standing water around our site which brings us to...the MOSQUITOS! We tried fans, tiki torches, and many deet free or light deet products before having to buy 100% deet so we could be outside. These things are awful!

Site12
Month of VisitAugust
  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Kasey M., August 26, 2020
  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Kasey M., August 26, 2020
  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Kasey M., August 26, 2020
  • (9) View All
Reviewed Oct. 31, 2019

A Crime of Opportunity

If this campground is convenient - and given that it's open through October and <60 minutes from DC it might well be - this campground is good to go. But without that convenience factor I would not rate this site as worth visiting.

The loop is very small, with all the sites pretty close together. The forest behind the site was sparse, enough so that it was hard to find fuel for the fire and we were basically part of the youth group activities happening. From 8am to 4pm I learned A LOT about what number to dial in case of emergency.

The site itself was very small - difficult to get 2 cars and two tents in - and the fire ring was smaller as well. Though it was cleaner than the average state park site.

We stayed in site 21, which was fine enough except for its proximity to the nearest pavilion and all the small children screaming "stop drop and roll" at the top of their lungs.

But at the end of the day it was $20 (with a $6 booking fee) and for better or worse we never interacted with a single park ranger or camp host. The upside is we could do what we wanted, the downside is there wasn't a sense of community, or regulation.

I'll say I have never been to a site where the firewood is padlocked, and you have to call someone to come unlock it so you can buy firewood. In fact I'm downgrading the review from 3 stars to 2 as I write this - there really weren't many positives about this campground other than that camping is a terrific hobby.

Site21
Month of VisitOctober
  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Chris F., October 31, 2019
  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Chris F., October 31, 2019
Reviewed Aug. 31, 2019

Pretty cool for so close to DC

Saw a snake, alligator snapping turtle, and rabbits, before we even reached the gates. Moderate privacy and space, especially considering how close it is to DC. There are some abandon camp loops around the open campground which makes for some cool walks with your dog. Very pretty area with lots of trails and overgrown roads to walk. Equestrian trails go deep into the woods if you want a longer trail. Bathrooms don’t look like much from the outside, but the inside is very nice. Clean, hot water, and good water pressure. The have a new dump station, but the hose has an anti-freeze up in the air with a pull cord valve. This means every time you pull to turn the water on, you get a shower. It was hot, so it was OK. Hahaha. They sell firewood, but they were huge pieces and getting them to start burning was tough. LOTS and LOTS of ticks. I got one, but my wife and dog got about a dozen each. Just bring tweezers. Each site had picnic table, fire ring, and pretty level parking spot.

Reviewed Sep. 10, 2018

Small but accommodating

The small loop here accommodates both tent and RVs, which is fine but some of these damn things are so huge, I have trouble believing they could wedge themselves here. The sites for tents are big enough for a 4 person tent. There are clean bathrooms and the hosts, who I have spoken to many times, are friendly and knowledgeable about the area. There is however a great bit of light pollution at night here due to its approximation to DC. Minimal noise except for planes overhead. There are decent trails to hike here too. There’s a sacrifice of space here- I’d like to see it expand a bit, as the campground can fill quickly, especially if RV’s are involved.

Month of VisitJuly
Reviewed Jul. 31, 2018

Another great central Maryland area

We stayed here a few times just to get out for a bit. It’s quiet, but not too dark, as the lights from DC interfere with the night sky here. The camping loop is small and is shared by tent and RV. The trails are maintained well. I’ve never left this park without at least one tick. No camp store. Firewood is available. Supplies can be gotten nearby. Tent sites can accommodate maybe up to a six person tent comfortably. Bathrooms are clean and showers are warm. Water is readily available.

Reviewed Jun. 8, 2018

good spot

very well maintained, nice sites that aren't right on top of one another. multiple loops for groups or individuals

Reviewed Sep. 14, 2016

Cedarville State Forest (Tornado)

I took my girlfriend car camping in Cedarville State Forest. The camping trip turned more into a stay in the tent the whole trip. We set up camp and ate dinner only to be hit by a tornado watch in the area. I spent most of the trip adjusting the water proofing so we stayed dry. When the rain did calm down Cedarville state forest offered some very serene and peaceful views. Which is surprising due to the forests location.

  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Justin G., September 14, 2016
  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Justin G., September 14, 2016
  • Review photo of Cedarville State Forest by Justin G., September 14, 2016
  • (7) View All

Frequently Asked Questions

  • How much does it cost to camp at Cedarville State Forest?

    Camping at Cedarville State Forest can cost between $18.49 and $24.49 depending on the site.

  • What is the max vehicle length at Cedarville State Forest?

    Cedarville State Forest allows vehicles up to 35 feet.

  • Are fires allowed at Cedarville State Forest?

    Yes, according to campers on TheDyrt.com, fires are allowed at Cedarville State Forest, although make sure to check current fire restrictions in the area.

  • Is there cell phone reception at Cedarville State Forest?

    According to campers on TheDyrt.com, Verizon signal is unknown, AT&T is available, and T-Mobile is unknown.