Elk Neck State Forest belongs to the

Maryland Department of Natural Resources The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is a government agency in the state of Maryland charged with maintaining natural resources including state parks, public lands, state forests, state waterways, wildlife, and recreation areas. It ...

and is managed by the

Maryland Forest Service The Maryland Forest Service in 1996 marked the 90th anniversary of forestry in Maryland, United States and the birth of what is known as the Department of Natural Resources Forest Service. Although the service has been known by many names over nine ...

, and is adjacent to the town of

North East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

, in

Cecil County Cecil County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland at the northeastern corner of the state, bordering both Pennsylvania and Delaware. As of the 2020 census, the population was 103,725. The county seat is Elkton. The county was ...

. It is often confused with

Elk Neck State Park Elk Neck State Park is a public recreation area located between Chesapeake Bay and the Elk River near the southern tip of the Elk Neck Peninsula in Cecil County, Maryland. The state park is home to the historic Turkey Point Light and offers l ...

, which lies further south, near the end of the same peninsula. The main entrance to the

state forest A state forest or national forest is a forest that is administered or protected by some agency of a sovereign or federated state, or territory. Background The precise application of the terms vary by jurisdiction. For example: * In Australia, a ...

(with a parking lot and office) runs north off of Irishtown Road. Other entrances, blocked by gates (to deter vehicles), are located on Huminski Road and Starkey Lane. Visitors to the state forest who are not using the shooting-ranges can park for free. Users of the shooting-ranges need to acquire permits under a self-service honor-system. This nature area, consisting of , provides hiking trails, hunting opportunities (during legally established hunting seasons), and ranges for

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

and for handgun- and rifle-shooting. A portion of the

Mason-Dixon Trail The Mason-Dixon Trail is a hiking trail that begins at the Appalachian Trail in south-central Pennsylvania, continues through northeastern Maryland and northern Delaware, and re-enters Pennsylvania shortly before ending at Chadds Ford. It is na ...

runs through this state forest. Although there i
a reduced-size area-map of the state forest
online
a larger, more detailed map (including Elk Neck State Park)
can be purchased from the Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources. Elk Neck State Forest is part of the

Northeastern coastal forests The Northeastern coastal forests are a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of the northeast and middle Atlantic region of the United States. The ecoregion covers an area of 34,630 sq miles (89,691 km2) encompassing the Piedmont a ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

. It contains wooded flatland, rolling hills, and marshlands. Plum Creek and Plum Creek Pond form an important water-feature in the south-central area. The primary, wide, gravel roads within the state forest—labeled as Trails 1, 2, and 3 -- allow limited vehicle traffic (starting from the main entrance, where Trail 1 begins). These forest roads are flanked by thick woods (mixed deciduous trees and evergreens) and provide entrances (for hikers) into some forest-trails. There are small parking areas along these roads, as well as several marked small meadows with blind hunting structures, including one for handicapped hunters. The northwestern corner of Trail 1, in particular, is the location of the shooting ranges.

References

Sources

Elk Neck State Forest
Maryland state forests Protected areas of Cecil County, Maryland {{Maryland-protected-area-stub