Frederick County Park and Recreation - Fountain Rock & Catoctin Creek Nature Centers Reviews

Easy hiking trails, access to the river and the Pine Tree section smells wonderful!

This was a great park to go to on a warm December day. There was plenty of parking, the were 2 portable potties, only one was not locked. I'm sure there were more bathrooms by the nature center but I didn't look plus I'm sure the nature center wasn't open anyways.
The trails are well maintained, there was even a story trail which my kids enjoyed. There is a butterfly garden, some music instruments, you can access the creek which is great for hot summer days I'm sure. There is also a sensory trail. The touch boxes were taken off for obvious reasons. But still a great walk through the woods.
There are pet waste stations around the park.
There is also a big playground and a few picnic areas.

We love following the blue trail with our 3 year old and finding the Pebble Beach

This park is very clean.and nice staff there.You can see some snake and bugs at the building.has nice playground.

Very beautiful setting with a playground, walking trails, puppets and nature related toys, and local wild life

Totally awesome little park! Trails are Well marked. Nice parking area, nature center, etc. Creek is beautiful.

This is a beautiful nature center. My family has visited on many occasions for many different reasons, and we've always enjoyed it. The classes for kids are fun and informative, and taught by funny, engaged, knowledgeable individuals. The nature center has a good variety of exhibits and games for children, is staffed by friendly and welcoming people, has great, convenient hours, and is well worth a visit. There are a variety of trails at skill levels appropriate for varied ages and mobilities, that despite being on the same property, feel very different. There is a huge, fun playground. Their seasonal festivals are always fun. This nature center is a great asset for county residents!

Awesome park, great facilities. Nature center is spectacular! Hike to Catoctin Creek is filled with wildlife. Habitat restoration project is the best in the county!!! Well done.

Make a memory with your family!! Beautiful facility!! And for the little nature lover in your family they do Birthdays so cool!!

Beautiful park and staff in the welcome center were very friendly and kind enough to let us hold the snakes. They were very informative. Creek in the park was amazing and we had a great time

Wonderful, friendly and helpful staff. Love the trails and the playground. Great place to relax and let the kids learn and have fun for hours.

This is a wonderful nature center and the staff are so friendly and knowledgable. There is always something going on for children and a beautiful place to take a walk.

Always our favorite peaceful scenic place tobplay, bike, hike, river walk and discover all kinds of cool creatures. The music trail is the coolest!

Beautiful park. Nature center was busy with kids camp, but trails were clear and easy to hike.

Awesome park a lot of cool things to do. Great kids playground to.

The whole place is very nice, well done with a great beach area on a little hike and more. But the stand out here is the nature center and it's absolutely superb staff. Patient, kind and knowledgeable

Fun, beautiful. Trails could be marked for easier read and easier to know what they offer.

Wonderful nature center. Great location for kids birthday parties!

Really nice park with great trails. Great place to take your dog for a walk.

What a great park and indoor nature center that is fantastic for kids. Inside they will take out some of the animals for the kids like turtles.

We stopped by while traveling from Harper's Ferry, hoping they would be open and they were! The staff was so friendly and they let my girls touch all the snakes and tortoises. The walk down to pebble beach is lovely.

Center was closed. People were walking on the trails. It was hot today!

A local place we had not discovered before. Lots of walking trails. Nature center.

Such a lovely park and the price is perfect. (Free). The nature center has a lot of animals for the kiddos to look at and the staff there are very helpful and extremely knowledgeable. The playground has a perfect mix of traditional equipment and interesting climbing opportunities. The nature trails are very nice because they're not too challenging for the little kids, but they are still deep enough into the woods so that you feel really connected to nature. If you're looking for a great place to take your kids hiking, but are worried that they'll get pooped out on a really challenging trail, this is a great location.

They try as hard to keep this place top notch and also help keep the litter away. The part - day summer camp was good. They also need a little medical staff.

We accidentally stumbled upon Catoctin Creek Park when I put in the wrong directions looking for the Catotcin National Park. But it turned out to be the perfect spot. We first started with lunch in a large pavillion and then decided to walk around. We went into the nature center and my son was in heaven! They have snakes, frogs, spiders and turtles. Additionally there is hiking trails, a wonderful playground and creek for swimming dogs, looking for fish and catching crawfish! This is a must visit if you have young kids or just want to relax outside. IG: @shoptini

Great nature center with a friendly staff, great playground, nice paths and a nice creek. Great for summer days.

Trails are great but the Nature Center doesn't have much.

Great nature center and grounds. It is out in the sticks a bit, but so worth it. Covered pavillions for picnics, picnic tables around the nature center bldg, and lots of parkibg. Indoors nature center with nice bathrooms, great staff, open turtle pond, live snakes and turtles and lizzards, plenty of cool taxidermy anf nature displays. Also a big play area for kids to play and lots and lost of toys! Bldg is sustainably build and the surroundinh grounds have a sensory trail, ancient building sites, lots of other trails, a creek, and more. Worth the drive for a kids day out.

Very nice place for bird watching and recreation for kids.

Really beautiful and quiet park with a wonderful nature center. The river is excellent and really a joy, plus the many birds and feeders that are there make for a really nice park.

We had my son s first birthday party here and it was amazing! The bulk of the kids were 2.5-3 years old. The party host (that put on the program) was amazing! She showed and allows the kids to pet an animal and then did and activity (parachute, tunnel, song and dance, etc) and rotated the entire 45-60 minute program this way and it was perfect for their age! I was worried that the kids being so young would not be as engaged but every single kid was! The key to a stress free event is planning. You are given 30 mins to set up and you have to return the room to the condition you found it. It can be done if you do a little planning

One of the few gems left in our state and county. Clean, curtious, and superb facilities. Great critters for all to enjoy. My daughter is at a birthday party there right now, great place to hold an event like this. Cant say enough great things about it.

Beautiful location. Lovely environment. Fabulous kids play date!

I visit here nearly 3 times a week to go on walks, hikes and to observe the beauty of nature. The nature center is helpful and friendly and has little critters to say hi to, and there are literally hours to be spent simply wondering the park and taking in the sights.

Great nature center, nice playground and facilities.

There was an unpleasant employee who decided it was appropriate to speak poorly to my two little ones. They of course we're excited to see the turtle he was handling while cleaning it's cage... He scolded one for being too excited then rudely said " I have a job to do"... If you work in a center where there are children eager to learn... Be a little more polite and informative and patient. We usually love coming here.

There is a creek that has a well groomed dirt trail and signs indicating where to go. The creek is shallow, slow moving, and great for the kids to play and swim in. Bring travel chairs and wear water shoes as the beach area is pebbled and there aren't any benches to sit on. The nature center itself has live animal displays for the kids to watch and learn from. There is also a large playscape for the kids to play on with shelters for parents to retreat into the shade from the sun. My kids absolutely loved the 4.5 hours we spent there and were asking to come back before we even got in the van to head home. Please remember to take your trash with you, and help keep the creek clean.

Great resource for the community. My son love it and we plan on coming back.

Great place to enjoy nature without being surrounded by people. With a full parking lot there are many places to go on the almost 200 acre site where you can't see or hear anyone else.

Also a great place for birthday parties and marriages.

A lovely nature center, est. 2011, very family friendly and with animals in hand for children education.

Nice trails, great playground, and the creek is just perfect

As a teacher, there's no where I'd rather take my class. Safe, beautiful, natural, purposeful... And right in our county. I have also been here with my family and the grounds are just beautiful. The creek "beaches" are exactly what you want when your kids want to splash around or do some beginner fishing. The nature center is clean and inviting with plenty of unique animals to view. All of the trails are well-planned and only enhance the natural features of this area.

Inside the nature center you'll find several types of native animals (and a few imports like the Vietnamese walking sticks), knowledgeable volunteers and full time employees, science toys, educational programs on the wide-screen, and some really comfortable rocking chairs. Some highlights: king, black/rat, and corn snakes, lizards, and the central display, the turtle pool. The animals are frequently brought out of their habitats to meet guests, and occasionally guests are invited to help feed them. Outside, you'll find some 130 acres of varied terrain and environments to explore, including a playground, several wading areas along Catoctin Creek, a large eastern white pine grove with debris shelter displays, fire pit, hiking paths, and newly planted reforestation areas. It's fairly easy to spend several hours here, all for free! The fire pit and picnic pavilion are available for rent for private events.

The park is a great inexpensive way to occupy your young kids. They have live animals available for them to see and touch . The creek is a short walk for your own fun experience with nature. They have excellent facilities, (pavilion, play ground equipment, and bathrooms). Fun for the whole family.

This place is amazing. When my son was little I would bring him here for nature classes, to look at creatures, play in the creek or just go for a walk. We also held a birthday party for him here. It was nice because they allowed me to use the oven to hear chicken nuggets etc.. for party nibbles and we bright our own cake. The kids were able to hold snakes.

It was a beautiful day. Enjoyed time with my dog who simply had a blast tackling the varied terrain. Good place for families to spend time together.

Catoctin Creek Park was very educational for adults and children they had frogs snakes Turtles some kind of a special cockroach from another country can't remember what it was from what they had stick bugs the park was very nice and clean the people at the educational center with the animals and bugs were very nice and friendly if you get a chance take your children and check it out you won't be disappointed

Kindergarten class trip...they were tired and needed naps! LOVED IT!

What a wonderful day to spend the whole day.They have picnic areas, fishing nature walks, they have a person at the Nature Center who will let you interact with snakes and other reptiles. The kids will it. !

Great, "hidden" park. Plenty of room for a group to have fun. There's two good sized pavilions, playgrounds and there is a nature/wildlife center that has reptiles and stuff to look at. Great for kids.

The nature center and tot lot were closed due to Covid, but the grounds were still open for a nice walk to the creek. There s a nice picnic shelter with lots of tables. Since the nature center was closed we didn t walk around to the back of the building where there are additional tables in the sun and another on the back deck. Lastly, try finding a public restroom open during the pandemic. We were grateful for the port-a-potties in the parking area! A really nice visit!

Fun trip. The trails were appropriate lengths for the kids. Everyone is wiped out.

Fun, beautiful and very well maintained! Lots to do for all ages, including the music garden (cymbals, drums, chimes), playground with boulders and rock wall and several slides, butterfly garden, sensory trail and other hiking trails. Almost everything is wheelchair accessible and bathrooms are perfectly clean.

Has a nice playground, with fake rocks to climb - my kids loved it! Not to mention the nice trails and music garden. Plus an indoor center with some animals (snakes, cockroach, turtles etc) and a toy center too! Will definitely be back

Lovley place for a day out, nature center still closed due to covid though.

Beautiful and excellent Park to take children on trail and stream walks ! Wonderful Nature center also staffed with knowledgeable friendly people!

Fun experience. Tour guide nice and helpful. Fun educational place for both kids and adults.

So great for 1st experience.the water isn't that high my kids love it

Beautiful park, quiet area, great parking... and some entertaining stocked trout flyfishing!

I'm super biased, so here are some winter programs!

Beautiful facilities with many different trails. There's a music trail as well. Nature center is beautiful!

Great place to take the family for a day trip. Nice long trails to see many different wildlife. Dogs (leashed) are welcome which is great to get your pooches some exercise. The guided tours were awesome as well. Looking forward to their summer programs.

Was very disappointed website said nature center was going to open at 12:00 yesterday so I took my 2 year old grandson there and drove an hour only to find out it was closed. EXTREMELY sad little boy since we talked about turtles and snakes the whole up. I suggest u call ahead b4 u go. There was a working employee that got 4 turtles out of cage for him to see. Thankful for that

Staff was fantastic. Very friendly! Carl took a lot of time letting our niece and nephew hold and touch animals. Very informative!

Perfect place for kids! I have a 3 yr old niece who greatly enjoyed the musical part of the park. It s a lovely spot for people of all ages with shorter and longer trails. I enjoyed going down by the creek and exploring the trails. Definitely going back when they are more open and I can go inside the center

Great place to take the kids and just let them explore for the day!

One of my favorite places. So many trails, so beautiful!

Absolutely Fabulous!!!!! The Nature Center has loads of games and activites for the kids. PLUS!!!!... Live animals for them to touch and see up close! Wonderful. Great playground. Beautiful trails. And nothing makes my boys happier than tossing rocks in creeks and Catoctin Creek is LOVELY! A must-visit for kids of all ages.