{"id":48975,"date":"2026-11-06T12:44:33","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T17:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=48975"},"modified":"2026-11-06T14:55:41","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T19:55:41","slug":"reservations-now-available-for-holly-beach-farm-natural-resources-management-area-on-the-chesapeake-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2026\/11\/06\/reservations-now-available-for-holly-beach-farm-natural-resources-management-area-on-the-chesapeake-bay\/","title":{"rendered":"Reservations Now Available for Holly Beach Farm Natural Resources Management Area on the Chesapeake Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"width: 455px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55607478954_80807e2c51.jpg\" alt=\"Wooded peninsula on the bay with bridge in the distant background\" width=\"445\" height=\"334\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Holly Beach Farm Natural Resources Management Area. Maryland DNR photo<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is now accepting reservations for outdoor recreation activities at the new <a href=\"https:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/publiclands\/Pages\/southern\/holly-beach-farm.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Holly Beach Farm Natural Resources Management Area<\/a> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">in Anne Arundel County. Reservations are available using DNR\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/mdoutdoors.maryland.gov\/customer\/home\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">MD Outdoors website<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Permitted outdoor recreational activities include hiking, bird watching, fishing, and crabbing. Hunting is already allowed via reservations, which are made separately from other outdoor activities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Formerly a private estate that has long been held for conservation, the 293-acre waterfront property consists of forested areas, open fields, a 9-acre freshwater pond, and beaches on a peninsula along the Chesapeake Bay and Whitehall Bay. The department took ownership in 2024 and is planning to expand responsible public access to Holly Beach Farm NRMA in the future with a focus on access via boats.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Currently, fishing and crabbing can be done from the shoreline of Whitehall Bay or the Chesapeake Bay, and fishing is also allowed in a freshwater pond. Recreational opportunities may expand as DNR will be adding some infrastructure, including a new fishing pier.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There is no fee to access Holly Beach NRMA, however space is limited to protect the ecologically sensitive areas of the peninsula.\u00a0<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Visitation slots are available year round from 7 a.m. to sunset every day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The daily maximum number of outdoor recreational users will vary seasonally. Limits and hours may be subject to change. Currently, hours and maximum capacities are:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> September through February: 10 maximum reservations per day\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> March through August: 20 maximum reservations per day\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Sundays, year-round: 20 maximum reservations per day<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Visitors can make reservations online through the MD Outdoors website (reservations are not currently available through the app). Reservations may be made one calendar day in advance or same-day; there is no fee to make reservations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">New users of MD Outdoors will need to create a free account to establish a DNRid number. Anyone with a fishing or hunting license or boat registration would use their existing DNRid.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Once on the MD Outdoors website, users can search for a box titled, \u201cParticipate in our Public Lands Hunting Reservation Program\u201d or \u201cReserve Your Hunt.\u201d Users would then follow the prompts to make a reservation by searching for \u201cHolly Beach Farm NRMA &#8211; Non-Hunting Outdoor Recreation.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Each individual visiting the park must have a reservation. Children in car seats who are accompanied by an adult do not need a reservation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A gate code will be required to enter the property. Gate codes are provided automatically after a reservation is made.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">More information is available on the <a href=\"https:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/publiclands\/Pages\/southern\/holly-beach-farm.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Holly Beach Farm NRMS website<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is now accepting reservations for outdoor recreation activities at the new Holly Beach Farm Natural Resources Management Area in Anne Arundel County. Reservations are available using DNR\u2019s MD Outdoors website.\u00a0 Permitted outdoor recreational activities include hiking, bird watching, fishing, and crabbing. Hunting is already allowed via reservations, which<a href=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2026\/11\/06\/reservations-now-available-for-holly-beach-farm-natural-resources-management-area-on-the-chesapeake-bay\/\">&nbsp;&nbsp;Read the Rest&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,11,4998,3172,12],"tags":[2971,5744,5205,5590,3332],"class_list":["post-48975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-fisheries","category-hiking","category-hunting","category-parks","tag-anne-arundel-county","tag-holly-beach-farm-natural-resources-management-area","tag-maryland-park-service","tag-reservations","tag-sandy-point-state-park"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48975"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48983,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48975\/revisions\/48983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}