Chesapeake Bay Foundation

The public beach at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation is located where Black Walnut Creek meets Chesapeake Bay. It is a popular site for swimming and boating. However, due to limited parking a permit pass much be acquired from the Philip Merrill Environmental Centre. The beach is accessible from 8:30 to 5 on weekdays only, and this schedule may vary depending on events or field trips at the learning Centre. The Philip Merrill Environmental Centre, headquarters to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, is a favourite destination for school and learning groups The centre is considered one of the most energy-efficient buildings in the world and its design is a reflection of the foundation’s mission to promote protection and restoration of Chesapeake Bay.
Note that there are no public washrooms on site.

WATER QUALITY

Passed water quality tests 60-95% of the time
Historical Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on May 9th, 2019. The Swim Guide updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on at

For water quality icon legend, click:

CURRENT WEATHER

28°C

Clear and sunny

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MONITORING FREQUENCY

SOURCE INFORMATION

Swim Guide checks for the latest information daily, Monday - Friday during the swimming season.

A beach is marked Green when there is less than 104 MPN (Most Probable Number) colonies of Enterococci / 100 ml of water for bodies of water that are sampled weekly or bi-weekly and 158 MPN colonies / 100 ml of water for bodies of water that are tested monthly.

A beach is marked Red when there are more than 104 MPN colonies / 100 ml of water for beaches that are tested weekly or bi-weekly and 158 MPN colonies / 100 ml of water for bodies of water that are tested monthly. A beach will also be posted if results from an area that has been resampled 5 times due to high levels of bacteria come back with results over 35 MPN colonies / 100 ml of water.

A beach is marked Grey when there is no current or reliable monitoring information available.

Maryland Healthy Beaches notification system has partnered with Google Earth to send updates. However, Swim Guide prefers to contact the Health Department directly as we are unable to determine the monitoring schedule Google Earth uses. The Anne Arundel Department of Health operates a 24-hour automated test results phone line at 410-222-7999.

A “no direct water contact” advisory is placed on beaches for 48 hours after a heavy rainfall, however the Anne Arundel County Department of Health’s website and The Maryland Healthy Beaches website are not updated.

WATER QUALITY GRAPH