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Serpentine Barrens Conservation Park, Rockville, MD

Photo: Russ Davis, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Sports & Outdoors

Serpentine Barrens Conservation Park

A two-unit Montgomery County park protecting rare serpentine rock barrens and their unusual plant community.

Rockville, MD

About Serpentine Barrens Conservation Park

Serpentine Barrens Conservation Park is made up of two separate units, East and North, that together cover about 288 acres. The park protects a natural area valued for its unusual bedrock and the plants that grow on it. Serpentine ecosystems are globally uncommon, and the largest examples on the East Coast lie in Maryland and Pennsylvania. The greenish soil is tied to magnesium in the underlying rock, and exposed bedrock is visible at many spots. Because the interior is sensitive, horseback riding is limited to the park edge along established roadbeds. The adjacent Rockville Crushed Stone Quarry, a very deep excavation, shows the rock's use as a construction material.

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  • #natural area
  • #geology
  • #rare plants
  • #hiking

What's around here?

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