Calvert Cliffs State Park
A woodland-and-wetland walk reaches a small Chesapeake beach where eroding Miocene deposits reveal the region’s marine past.
Artwork inspired by Charles Willson Peale
The fossils associated with Calvert Cliffs come from sediments laid down when a warm shallow sea covered Southern Maryland. Sharks, whales, rays, and other animals left remains that erosion gradually releases along the Chesapeake shoreline. Finding a tooth is exciting, but the larger story is the transformation of a marine floor into the land beneath the walk.
The state park is also a substantial approach hike through woods and wetlands. Its shortest beach route is 1.8 miles each way, so beach time is only part of the outing. The cliff faces themselves are dangerous and closed to access; enjoy the permitted beach while treating fresh erosion as evidence of an active, unstable edge.
- Geological period
- Miocene
- Shortest beach route
- Red Trail
- Shore
- Chesapeake Bay
Quick guide
- Allow the walk
- Budget for a 3.6-mile round trip on the Red Trail.
- Stay on open beach
- Keep away from the closed cliff base and falling material.
Know before you go
- Carry water
- The return hike remains after time spent on the beach.
- Watch the wetland
- Boardwalk and marsh scenery are part of the route’s interest.
- Leave the cliff alone
- Never dig into or stand beneath unstable faces.
- Identify with context
- Use museum or park guidance to distinguish fossils from modern shells.
Good to know
This is not a drive-up fossil beach. The cliff base is closed, and the safe public beach is reached by a long enough walk to require proper shoes and water.
Notice these
- Wetland approach
- Fossil-bearing shoreline deposits
- Small beach at the Bay