Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Caucasus - Geghard Monastery, Armenia
Armenia • 15 days, 14 nights
Caucasus Road Trip: Azerbaijan, Georgia & Armenia
from
Taktsang Lhakhang, also known as the “Tiger’s Nest”.
Bhutan • 11 days, 10 nights
Festivals & Temples of Bhutan
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Hisham’s Palace
Cresson Sanatorium and Prison
Leo The Lion
Deception Pass Bridge
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The sign declares this the number-one gumbo shop in town.
Gumbo Hut Shioya
The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
Central Park Boathouse
The Village Tavern of Long Grove - exterior.
The Village Tavern
Hunter House Hamburgers
L’Escamoteur
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
The cute capybara.
Animal Takeover: Brace Yourself for Adorable Hordes
about 13 hours ago
The Codex Gigas (the Devil’s Bible) open to the portrait of the devil.
Codex Gigas: Who Drew the Devil in This Massive Medieval Bible?
1 day ago
USDA and Washington State agriculture officials tagged this Asian giant hornet. Sept. 10, 2021.
What Ever Happened to the Murder Hornets?
3 days ago
The exterior of the Hall of Records.
Atlas Obscura Mailbag: Urban Exploration, Illegal Carvings, and Repeat Vacations
5 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States Maryland Lusby Calvert Cliffs State Park

Calvert Cliffs State Park

Captain John Smith thought these cliffs were amazing in 1608 but sharks thought so 20 million years before him.

Lusby, Maryland

Added By
joannablack
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
The cliffs at Calvert Cliffs State Park   N8ure Lover on Flickr
The cliffs at Calvert Cliffs State Park   N8ure Lover on Flickr
The cliffs at Calvert Cliffs State Park   David Heise on Flickr
Boardwalk at Calvert Cliffs   Doug Kerr on Flickr
Marker noting Captain John Smith   Doug Kerr on Flickr
Old Frame House overlooking the Calvert Cliffs in 1936   Historic American Buildings Survey
Ecphora gardnerae fossil from the Miocene period   James St. John on Flickr
Marsh on the way to the cliffs   morjolee / Atlas Obscura User
Red trail to cliffs   Kusary / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

The Chesapeake Bay and its shores were explored and charted by Captain John Smith in the early 17th century, and he originally named these cliffs for his Mom (aww…), calling them “Riccard’s Cliftes.”   

Today, on the western side of the Chesapeake Bay as it cuts up through Maryland, these sandy-colored bluffs are now called Calvert Cliffs and are part of the system of Maryland's state parks. Offering up a rare window on evidence of, among other prehistoric events, a “minor mass extinction” (but really - can a mass extinction event ever really be “minor”). It’s just one example of what can be seen from the shoreline down below, in addition to countless fossils of prehistoric species of sharks, whales, rays, and seabirds that were, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, “the size of small airplanes.” 

Because the strata of the cliffs is exposed to the elements, it’s an amateur paleontologist’s playground, known for dropping fossils from the Middle Miocene period (that’s about 10 to 20 million years ago). It is one of the great places on the East Coast to rock-hunt and find a fair amount of prehistoric shark's teeth and oyster shells, Chesapectens and ecphoras (those are swirly fossilized mollusks), and parts of the shore below are open season for collecting (but not the cliffs and the area right below the cliffs due to rockslides and erosion ).  

Captain Smith saw a few other things you're not likely to see anytime soon in Maryland - as he wrote in his log, "...the valleys very fertile, but extreme[ly] thick of small wood so well as trees, and much frequented with Wolves, Bears, Deere and other wild beasts."

Related Tags

Park Rocks Rock Formations Collections Fossils Geology

Know Before You Go

From DC, take MD Route 4 (exit 11) off the Beltway/I-95 and keep on going south/southeast until you see the signs. There is a modest entry fee ($5 for a car) and ample parking. The hike from the parking lot to the beach is 1.8 miles on a trail rated "Easy;" good shoes and water are a good idea; the park provides water coolers along the way, and there are benches. There is no lifeguard at the beach.

Community Contributors

Added By

joannablack

Edited By

AF, dearestcatherine, rugby007, Kusary...

  • AF
  • dearestcatherine
  • rugby007
  • Kusary
  • morjolee

Published

October 26, 2015

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvert_Cliffs_State_Park
  • http://dnr2.maryland.gov/publiclands/Pages/southern/calvertcliffs.aspx
Calvert Cliffs State Park
10540 Hg Trueman Road
Lusby, Maryland, 20657
United States
38.39564, -76.429346
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Moll Dyer Rock

Leonardtown, Maryland

miles away

The Commemorative to Enslaved Peoples of Southern Maryland

Lexington Park, Maryland

miles away

Old Trinity Church

Woolford, Maryland

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Maryland

Maryland

United States

Places 239
Stories 15

Nearby Places

Moll Dyer Rock

Leonardtown, Maryland

miles away

The Commemorative to Enslaved Peoples of Southern Maryland

Lexington Park, Maryland

miles away

Old Trinity Church

Woolford, Maryland

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Maryland

Maryland

United States

Places 239
Stories 15

Related Places

  • Red and white striped sedimentary rock.

    Siyazan, Azerbaijan

    Candy Cane Mountains

    Swirling layers of white and red rock earned these mountains their festive nickname.

  • The limestone landscape.

    Borgholm N, Sweden

    Neptuni Åkrar

    An otherworldly, fossil-rich cobble beach holds Viking graves, cairns, and other remains.

  • Tucson Mineral and Gem World.

    Tucson, Arizona

    Tucson Mineral and Gem World

    A natural history wunderkammer in the middle of the desert.

  • Paul Broste Rock Museum

    Parshall, North Dakota

    Paul Broste Rock Museum

    One North Dakota man's vast collection of rare rocks, polished orbs, and geological wonders.

  • The colorful, glowing rocks of Sterling Hill

    Ogdensburg, New Jersey

    Fluorescent Rocks of Sterling Hill Mine

    Hundreds of glow-in-the-dark objects light up a museum in a historic zinc mine.

  • Pungo Andongo, Angola

    Black Rocks of Pungo Andongo

    These giant volcanic rocks towering above the Angolan savannah once served as a natural fortification.

  • The winding curves of Ybykty Canyon.

    Koyulus, Kazakhstan

    Ybykty Canyon

    This small canyon is home to a treasure trove of geological oddities.

  • Window arch in the City of Rocks.

    Almo, Idaho

    City of Rocks

    This U.S. natural reserve is an ancient spiritual place and rock climber’s paradise.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.