Cypress Park and Winter Quarters – Pocomoke City

Cypress Park and Winter Quarters –Pocomoke City

Cypress Park: 7 Bridge St, Pocomoke City, MD 21851
GPS Coordinates: 38.076573, -75.570063

Winter Quarters: 355 Winter Quarters Dr, Pocomoke City, MD 21851
GPS Coordinates: 38.085684, -75.559583

Pocomoke City Hall (410) 957-1333

Cypress Park and Winter Quarters are two little gems – a pair of twin municipal parks in Pocomoke City. These two parks occupy a rounded peninsula at a large bend of the Pocomoke River, which winds for two-and-a half miles along the City’s northern boundary. The 130 acres of the two parks occupies a significant portion of the small town. The location couldn’t be better for waterbirds, forest birds, and wetland birds.

Cypress Park has two very different sections. The main part of the park has the riverbank to the west and is immediately south of US Route 13, which runs east-west around the top of the city. There is convenient free parking at the corner of Market and Front Streets.

The main part of the park is a typical municipal recreation area, with a large playground, ball fields, tennis and pickleball courts, an amphitheater for events, picnic tables, and a couple of pavilions. There is lots of grass lawn and a stream running west to the river.

Near the flagpole is a wetland garden featuring native plants; it’s named for the late Olive Marie Lippoldt Garden, a beloved public school teacher. The Lower Shore Land Trust conducted a clean-up and restoration of the garden in 2021, with removal of invasives and planting of more natives. Check the wetland garden and the grove of trees around it for songbirds.

The park also boasts a long boardwalk right at the edge of the river, offering great looks at the water and any waterbirds that might be around. Check under the bridges for swallows in season, and for pigeons year-round.

The north end of Cypress Park is very different: it is undeveloped and consists of 71 acres of wooded wetlands. This is where Bald Cypress, the park’s namesake, can be found. The habitat here supports Forest Interior Dwelling Species. From the main part of the park, a Nature Trail leads under the US 13 overpass to the north section of the park. The Nature Trail is natural surface with boardwalk sections; it goes through the woods and then follows the shoreline of Stevenson Pond, an 8-acre freshwater pond popular for fishing. Check the water and water’s edge for the usual suspects of waterfowl and herons.

There is a kayak/canoe launch along the boardwalk that skirts the pond. The Nature Trail comes to an end at a parking area at the north end of Greenway Avenue, a residential street. The one-way distance on the trail is 0.4 miles from the Route 13 overpass to the northeast trailhead at Greenway Avenue.

If you wish to walk more, you can go south on Greenway Avenue to Winter Quarters Drive, turn left, and walk to the boat ramp on the Pocomoke at the end of Winter Quarters Drive, an additional one-way distance of 0.7 miles. Or you could shorten that distance by cutting through the Winter Quarters Disc Golf Course, which is across the road from the Nature Trail at the Greenway Drive trailhead.

The Winter Quarters Disc Golf Course used to be a regular (ball and clubs) 9-hole golf course, and is owned by the city. It is open to the public and is free, no fee, no pre-registration. It occupies the east side of the peninsula formed by the river, with frontage along the Pocomoke to the east.

The main access to Winter Quarters is from a parking area at the end of Winter Quarters Drive at the river, where there is a public boat ramp, fishing pier, playground, and a shaded picnic area. You can walk along the fairways of the disc golf course to look for songbirds in the park-like setting of scattered woodlots and hedgerows of hardwoods and conifers, interspersed with some remaining sand traps (look for ground-nesting native bees!) and water features. Our park map set shows the location and arrangement of the fairways.

Birdlife:

There is one eBird hotspot that covers the two parks:
Pocomoke City–Winter Quarters and Cypress Park – 126+ species
The Winter Quarters area was newly integrated into the existing Cypress Park hotspot in August 2026 and we expect the list of bird species to expand as additional checklists from Winter Quarters are posted. The two areas have different habitats and so different assemblages of birds, although there is of course overlap in the species present.

The top three on eBird’s list of “Iconic Birds” for Cypress Park and Winter Quarters” are White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, and Prothonotary Warbler. “Iconic Birds” are those that are more likely to occur at this site than in the surrounding region.

Here is a seasonal run-down of the birds of Cypress Park and Winter Quarters:

Year-round (most are resident breeders): Canada Goose; Mallard; Rock Pigeon; Mourning Dove; Turkey and Black Vultures; Bald Eagle; Woodpeckers: Red-bellied, Downy, Hairy, Pileated, Northern Flicker; Blue Jay; American and Fish Crows; Caroline Chickadee; Tufted Titmouse; White-breasted Nuthatch; Brown-headed Nuthatch (sporadic at times); Carolina Wren; European Starling; Eastern Bluebird; American Robin; House Sparrow; House Finch; American Goldfinch; Chipping Sparrow (may be absent in depths of winter); Northern Cardinal.

Breeding season (most are migrants that winter elsewhere): Chimney Swift; Killdeer; Laughing Gull; Double-crested Cormorant; Green Heron; Osprey; Eastern Wood-Pewee; Acadian Flycatcher; Willow Flycatcher (scarce); Great Crested Flycatcher; White-eyed Vireo; Red-eyed Vireo; Purple Martin; Barn Swallow; Blue-gray Gnatcatcher; Gray Catbird; Brown Thrasher; Northern Mockingbird; Red-winged Blackbird; Brown-headed Cowbird; Common Grackle; Ovenbird; Worm-eating Warbler; Prothonotary Warbler; Common Yellowthroat; Pine Warbler; Yellow-throated Warbler; Summer Tanager; Indigo Bunting.

Wintering (these breed elsewhere): Tundra Swan (Scarce); Wood Duck (scarce); American Black Duck; Lesser Scaup; Bufflehead; Hooded Merganser; Ruddy Duck; American Woodcock; Ring-billed Gull; Pied-billed Grebe; Great Blue Heron; Sharp-shinned Hawk; Cooper’s Hawk; Red-shouldered Hawk; Red-tailed Hawk; Barred Owl; Belted Kingfisher; Yellow-bellied Sapsucker; American Kestrel; Eastern Phoebe; Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets; Red-breasted Nuthatch; Brown Creeper; Winter Wren; Hermit Thrush; Cedar Waxwing; Evening Grosbeak (rare); Purple Finch; FOx Sparrow; Dark-eyed Junco; White-throated Sparrow; Song Sparrow; Swamp Sparrow; Eastern Towhee; Rusty Blackbird; Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Migrant birds of passage (pass through in fall or spring but don’t stay; at this site, fall is better than spring for warbler diversity): Mute Swan; Northern Shoveler; Ring-necked Duck; Wild Turkey; American Herring Gull; Yellow-billed Cuckoo; Ruby-throated Hummingbird; White Ibis; Northern Harrier; Eastern Screech-Owl; Eastern Kingbird; Eastern Warbling Vireo; Tree Swallow; Swainson’s Thrush; Wood Thrush; Pine Siskin; Eastern Meadowlark; Louisiana Waterthrush; Northern Waterthrush; Black-and-white Warbler; American Redstart; Kentucky Warbler; Northern Parula; Magnolia Warbler; Blackpoll Warbler; Northern Yellow Warbler; Black-throated Blue Warbler; Prairie Warbler; Scarlet Tanager.

Wheelchair Access:

The boardwalk along the Pocomoke River in Cypress Park and walking paths through the park are wheelchair-accessible; however the boardwalk does not have safety railings, so extreme care is necessary not to roll off the edge. There are ADA-style portable restrooms in the main part of Cypress Park. Parts of the Nature Trail are natural surface and would be too wet and soft for a wheelchair. But, the boardwalk at the far end of the Nature Trail, along the edge of Stevenson’s Pond, is wheelchair accessible and is easily reached from the parking area at the end of Greenway Avenue, but again, use extreme caution on the boardwalk because there are no safety railings. The Fishing Pier at Winter Quarters is also wheelchair-accessible but does not have safety railings. The Winter Quarters disc-golf course is not accessible.

Pet Policy:

Pets are allowed on leash in all areas; pick up after your pet.

Special Designations:

• Cypress Park and Winter Quarters lie within the large (181,000 acres) Pocomoke-Nassawango IBA Important Bird Area (IBA), as designated by the National Audubon Society. Audubon considers this IBA as a whole to be the “premier site for Forest-Interior Dwelling Species (FIDS) on the Delmarva peninsula,” noting that the IBA “hosts significant populations of 12 at-risk bird species because of its large size and varied habitats. Of the 24 species of FIDS found on Maryland’s coastal plain, 21 breed regularly in this IBA and another two species may do so. The extensive forested wetlands provide prime habitat for four at-risk birds.” Read more about the Pocomoke-Nassawango IBA Important Bird Area (IBA).
• The Pocomoke has been designated by the State of Maryland as a Scenic River,  and the Pocomoke River Corridor has been designated by the State as a Heritage Conservation Site. Special funding is available to acquire Heritage Conservation Sites.
• Parts of Cypress Park and Winter Quarters are within the state-designated Chesapeake Bay Critical Area, where development is restricted.

• The Log Cabin at Winter Quarters is owned by Pocomoke City and is available for rental for events. It is a historic building, built in 1940 by the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) as one of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal projects that put people to work after the Great Depression while improving communities.
• There are playgrounds and picnic tables at both Cypress Park and Winter Quarters, making these locations good for a family outing.
• The Cypress Park Nature Trail includes exercise stations along the trail.
• There is a kayak-canoe launch from a floating dock at Stevenson Pond, easily accessed from the parking area at the end of Greenway Avenue.
• The boat ramp at Winter Quarters is free and open to the public, as is the Winter Quarters fishing pier and the disc golf course.
• Another city-owned, free public boat ramp is a couple block south of the main area of Cypress Park, at the end of Laurel Street and Riverside Drive at the river.
• At Cypress Park, there is designated free fishing area where  no fishing license is required.
• The Corner Sanctuary/Pocomoke Community Garden, on Clarke Street between Maple and Willow Streets, contained a community vegetable garden as well as many native plants. There is a winding foot path and a small gazebo.
• The Sturgis One-Room Schoolhouse Museum, the DelMarVa Discovery Center and the Mar-Va Theatre Performing Arts Center are near the parking area for Cypress Park.
• Newtowne Park is owned by Worcester County but is located within Pocomoke City limits. Newtowne Park consists mostly of ball fields but includes a large freshwater fishing pond with wooded border that is worth checking for birds. There is no eBird hotspot for this location.
• Cypress Park and Winter Quarters hold a wide variety of plants and animals. See observations on iNaturalist.

1. For the main part of Cypress Park: 7 Bridge St, Pocomoke City, MD 21851 | GPS Coordinates: 38.076573, -75.570063
2. At the Northeast End of Nature Trail and south end of Winter Quarters Disc Golf Course: 10 Greenway Avenue, Pocomoke City, MD 21851 | GPS Coordinates: 38.081819, -75.565485
3. At the Winter Quarters Boat Ramp, Fishing Pier, and Winter Quarters Disc Golf Course: 355 Winter Quarters Dr, Pocomoke City, MD 21851 | GPS Coordinates: 38.085684, -75.559583

• If using Route 13, follow directions as above from the Western Shore, picking up the directions at Salisbury.
• If using Route 113, follow directions as below from Ocean City, picking up the directions at the Route 113 interchange with Route 90.

• To reach Winter Quarters from Cypress Park: If you want to visit Winter Quarters as well as Cypress Park, you can either walk in via the Cypress Park Nature Trail or drive, a trip of less than 1 mile by road. Turn right out of the Cypress Park parking area and make a left to go south onto US Route 13 Business/Market Street. Drive two blocks and make a left at the traffic light to go north on 2nd Street, which becomes Winter Quarters Drive after it passes Linden Avenue. Continue north on Winter Quarters Drive, passing under US Route 13. In about ¼ mile, Greenway Avenue on the left will take you to the far end of the Nature Trail and the kayak/canoe launch at Stevenson Pond. Or skip that and continue straight ahead to where Winter Quarters Drive ends at the fishing pier and boat ramp on the Pocomoke River. Turn left into the parking area.

Nearby Sites:

Worcester County: Assateague Island National Seashore & Assateague Island State Park ■ E.A. Vaughn Wildlife Management Area ■ Heron Park (formerly Berlin Falls Park) ■ Isle of Wight Park & Wildlife Management Area ■ Libertytown Branch (Former Bay Club Golf Course) ■  Nassawango Creek Preserve and Furnace Town ■ Ocean City Inlet & Sunset Park ■ Ocean City: Skimmer Island (4th Street Mudflats) ■ Pocomoke River State Park – Shad Landing & Milburn Landing ■  Pocomoke State Forest – Hickory Point Cypress Swamp Natural Area ■ South Point ■ Sun Outdoors Ocean City (formerly Castaways Campground)  ■  Truitts Landing & Other Bayside Landings

Somerset County: Deal Island Wildlife Management Area ■ Fairmount Wildlife Management Area ■ Irish Grove MOS Sanctuary ■ Janes Island State Park ■ Rumbley Boat Ramp ■ Smith Island ■Wellington Wildlife Management Area

Wicomico County: Cedar Hill Marina & Park ■ Ellis Bay Wildlife Management Area ■ Nanticoke River Wildlife Management Area – Nutter’s Neck ■ Nassawango Creek Preserve and Furnace Town ■Pemberton Historical Park ■  Pirate’s Wharf Park ■  Roaring Point & Nanticoke Harbor ■ Tyaskin Park & Wetipquin Park ■  Salisbury Landfill & Naylor Mill Road Pond  ■  Schumaker Pond & Salisbury City Park

Habitats:

Bottomland Deciduous ForestsConifersHedgerows Former Golf CourseGarden or ArboretumLawn or BallfieldsUrban or Small Town Landscape Forested SwampFreshwater Marsh or FloodplainFreshwater Pond, Lake, or ReservoirMud Flats (Tidal or Non-Tidal)Rivers & Streams

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