Free & Cheap Things to Do in College Park

Museums & Culture

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center runs a free visitor center in Greenbelt, just northeast of College Park, where you can walk among real rockets in the Rocket Garden, see a moon rock, and explore hands-on exhibits on Earth science, the Hubble and Webb telescopes, and space weather. Monthly model-rocket launches are a highlight.

Address: 9432 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20771

Tip: Open Thursday–Saturday (Thu–Fri 10–3, Sat 12–4). Catch the free model-rocket launches on the first Sunday of most months, and leave time for the outdoor Rocket Garden. Group tours run Tuesday–Friday by reservation.

History & Museums

A Smithsonian-affiliated museum on the grounds of the world's oldest continuously operating airport — founded in 1909, where the Wright brothers trained the first military pilots. Ten aircraft fill a sunlit gallery overlooking the runway, alongside flight simulators, open cockpits, and hands-on exhibits built for kids.

Address: 1985 Cpl Frank Scott Dr, College Park, MD 20740

Tip: Tuesday–Sunday 10–4. The county doesn't post a flat daily rate clearly online, so confirm at the door; homeschool groups of 10+ book tours at $2 a child. The glass wall over the runway is great for plane-spotting.

History & Views

Established in 1909 when Wilbur Wright came to teach Army officers to fly, College Park Airport is the oldest continuously operating airport in the world. The grounds are free to visit — watch small planes take off and land from the public viewing area and read the historic markers tracing a century of aviation firsts.

Address: 1909 Cpl Frank Scott Dr, College Park, MD 20740

Tip: The free airfield viewing area pairs naturally with the on-site Aviation Museum, so do both in one stop. Bring a picnic and watch the Cessnas; the operations staff can point out the historic spots.

Parks & Nature

A 1,100-acre pocket of Maryland woodland run by the National Park Service inside the Beltway, Greenbelt Park has free entry and miles of forest trails — the 1.4-mile Azalea Trail and the longer Perimeter Trail wind through oak-and-beech forest just minutes from the city. Its first-come campground is the closest camping to Washington, D.C.

Address: 6565 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20770

Tip: The trails are free and open year-round; only camping needs a reservation and fee. It's a quiet, shady break from the suburbs — good for an easy hike or a picnic, and the closest national-park campground to D.C.

Historic Districts

Greenbelt is one of three New Deal 'greenbelt towns' the federal government built in the 1930s, and Old Greenbelt is a National Historic Landmark. Stroll the pedestrian paths to the 1937 Roosevelt Center — among the country's first planned shopping centers — to see Art Deco architecture, Lenore Thomas's stone sculptures, murals, and the historic Old Greenbelt Theatre.

Address: 15 Crescent Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20770

Tip: Park near Roosevelt Center and follow the underpass paths the planners built so residents never cross a street. The New Deal Café and Co-op grocery anchor the center; pair it with the Greenbelt Museum house tour.

History & Museums

This small museum preserves a 1937 original Greenbelt townhouse, furnished as a New Deal–era family would have lived, telling the story of America's first federally planned cooperative community. Guided house tours run on Sundays, and a free companion exhibit on the town's history sits in the Greenbelt Community Center.

Address: 10-B Crescent Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20770

Tip: House tours are Sundays, every half hour from 1–3 PM, at $5 a person; park in the library lot across the street. The free exhibit at the Community Center is open daily and pairs with a self-guided walking tour.

Arts & Culture

The University of Maryland's flagship campus in College Park is free to wander — the grand McKeldin Mall, the bronze Testudo terrapin statues, and the free University of Maryland Art Gallery, which shows rotating contemporary and historical exhibitions. The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center adds more free gallery space and events.

Address: University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742

Tip: The Art Gallery is open weekday afternoons but closes between exhibitions, so check ahead. Street parking in College Park is easier than the paid campus garages. Rub Testudo's nose on McKeldin Mall for luck.

Parks & Nature

Built around a 38-acre lake on the edge of College Park, Lake Artemesia offers more than two miles of paved hiker-biker trails, an accessible fishing pier, and an aquatic garden. The Luther Goldman Birding Trail makes it one of the region's best free birding spots, with Audubon walks twice a month.

Address: 55th Ave & Berwyn Rd, College Park, MD 20740

Tip: Open dawn to dusk; no cars on the grounds, so enter on foot or bike from Calvert Road or Berwyn Heights. The trail links into the Anacostia Tributary Trail System for longer rides — bring binoculars for the birding trail.

History & Museums

An 1807 Federal-style mansion in Riverdale Park, two miles south of College Park, built by the prominent Calvert family. Guided tours explore the lives of the Calverts and the enslaved people who worked the plantation, while the grounds hold restored early-1800s gardens of heirloom vegetables, fruits, and herbs.

Address: 4811 Riverdale Rd, Riverdale Park, MD 20737

Tip: The visitor center and grounds are open daily 10–4; guided house tours run Thursday–Sunday at noon and 2 PM. The historic gardens are free to wander, and it's a short hop off the Trolley Trail.

Parks & Waterfront

On the Anacostia River about six miles south of College Park, this free urban waterfront park pairs a paved riverside walk with a fishing pier, a historic B&O Railroad caboose, playgrounds, and a marina renting kayaks, canoes, and paddleboats. Interpretive displays recount the 18th-century port and the War of 1812.

Address: 4601 Annapolis Rd, Bladensburg, MD 20710

Tip: Free parking and free riverside walking; rentals and the interpretive pontoon-boat tours cost extra. Summer brings free riverside concerts, and it's a flat, easy spot for birding along the Anacostia.

Parks & Nature

Greenbelt's central city park wraps a 23-acre lake with a flat 1.25-mile gravel-and-dirt loop popular with walkers and runners. Picnic pavilions, a playground, and shaded woods make it an easy free stop, and the lake is a reliable spot for ducks and herons; canoes and kayaks are allowed by permit.

Address: 555 Crescent Rd, Greenbelt, MD 20770

Tip: The 1.25-mile loop is mostly soft-surface and easy on the knees — no swimming or motorized boats, and it closes at sunset. It's a short walk from Historic Greenbelt and the Roosevelt Center.

Trails & Biking

A 3.9-mile paved rail-trail built on the right-of-way of the trolley that ran from Washington to Laurel until 1958, the Trolley Trail links College Park, Riverdale Park, and Hyattsville. Flat and car-free, it threads past public art, cafés, and three Metro/MARC stations — an easy free walk or bike ride through the inner suburbs.

Address: Rhode Island Ave Trolley Trail, College Park, MD 20740

Tip: Pick it up near the College Park–U of MD Metro or at Riverdale Park. It connects to the wider Anacostia Tributary Trail System and Lake Artemesia for longer rides; Hyattsville's Arts District at the south end is a good turnaround.