The city of Silver Spring, Maryland is a little off-the-beaten-path suburb just a short distance outside of the historic areas of Ellicott City and Washington, DC. For both local residents and travelers staying for a night or just passing through, Silver Spring offers quite a number of things to do in its own right, including recreational, educational, and historical attractions and activities. The pedestrian-friendly city provides opportunities for several high-energy attractions, as well as low-key, relaxing activities, for people of all ages.
Wheaton Regional Park
The Wheaton Regional Park was established in the city of Silver Spring back in 1960 and stretches across more than five hundred acres.
Open from sunrise until sunset, the park is popular among tourists and locals alike, offering an array of educational and recreational opportunities for anyone to enjoy, such as hiking, ice skating, picnicking, and horseback riding.
Visitors can also tour the area by train. For those who prefer a more relaxing, laidback activity, Wheaton Regional Park is also home to multiple nature centers featuring a variety of exhibits and programs, a conservatory, and the Brookside Gardens.
2000 Shorefield Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20902, Phone: 301-495-2595
AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center
The AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring was founded by the residents of the state of Maryland’s Montgomery County as a place for both artists and educators of all kinds, from all parts of the world.
The AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center has ties to the country’s American Film Institute and hosts a broad array of video and film programming, in addition to hosting a variety of artistic performances, musical performances, discussions, panels, and interviews.
The theater is a place for people of any age, offering entertainment for both families with children and film buffs.
8633 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910, Phone: 301-495-6700
Silver Spring Library
The Silver Spring Library opened as a newer library in 2015 and measures approximately sixty-three thousand square feet, home to county office space, a non-profit arts organization, artists studios, a post office, and a cafe, in addition to its large collection of books, magazines, newspapers, CDs, audio books, and other media. The first two floors of the Silver Spring Library consists of studios for artists, meeting rooms, and offices, as well as the Kefa Cafe, which offers drinks and snacks. The fifth floor is home to the children’s area. Parking can be found across the street in the Wayne Avenue Garage.
900 Wayne Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20910, Phone: 240-773-9420
St Camillus Church
The St. Camillus Church is named for Saint Camillus, who was born to a woman of 60 years old in a stable. He devoted himself to caring for the dying and sick and personally founded eight different hospitals and fifteen houses of his own order. This namesake church is staffed by people with ties to Franciscan and Catholic traditions, attempting to bring a long orthodox tradition history and spiritual care to the area of Silver Spring, Maryland. Mass at the Saint Camillus Church is offered in English, Spanish, and French, featuring both gospel and traditional music, as well as several different choirs.
1600 St Camillus Dr, Silver Spring, MD 20903, Phone: 301-434-8400
Gateway to NOAA
Gateway to NOAA is a permanent exhibit designed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, to showcase how the organization “takes the pulse of the planet every day and protects and manages ocean and coastal resources.” This interesting and informative exhibit is divided up into five different sections: NOAA in the News, which features an interactive display for exploring the ocean; Water, which highlights marine processes; Weather and Climate, focused on NOAA’s role in climate process and weather forecasts; Earth Observations, which share methods for gathering information; and NOAA Heritage. Gateway to NOAA is open Monday to Friday.
1325 E W Hwy, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Station
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Station is the only railroad passenger station from the twentieth century in Montgomery County of Maryland, preserved and operated by both the Montgomery Preservation Society and the Silver Spring Historical Society. Serving as an active railroad station between the years of 1945 and 2000, the railroad station was used by those who appreciated less crowds than those often present at the Union Station, which included a number of illustrious passengers like President Harry S. Truman. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Station was designated in 2002 on the National Register of Historic Places.
8100 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20910, Phone: 301-495-4915
Maryland Youth Ballet
The mission of the Maryland Youth Ballet has been providing a high caliber of performance opportunities and training in ballet since 1971 in order to prepare youth dancers for careers in performing arts, along with offering classes to ballet dancers of all levels and ages in the Silver Spring community. As part of the performance training the Maryland Youth Ballet provides to dancers in the region, the ballet organization also puts on a number of professional quality productions throughout the year. These ballet productions include the award-winning Nutcracker, performed every holiday season, along with the newer version: “The Mini-Nut.”
Maryland Youth Ballet, 926 Ellsworth Dr, Silver Spring, MD 20910, Phone: 301-608-2232
Matthew Henson State Park
Matthew Henson State Park in Silver Spring is a greenway that offers several recreational features running along the Turkey Branch, which is a tributary of Montgomery County’s Rock Creek. Named after an arctic explorer and Maryland native, Matthew Henson, one of the highlights of the state park is its namesake trail used for biking and hiking through the park.
The Matthew Henson Trail is around eight feet wide and extends approximately 4.5 miles, winding its way from the scenic Rock Creek Hiker-Biker Trail up to Alderton Road. A wooden boardwalk makes up 0.6 miles of the trail.
Silver Spring, MD 20906, Phone: 301-495-2595, See the Map
National Museum of Health and Medicine
It takes bravery to perform surgery and save lives, and at the National Museum of Health and Medicine, this is exactly what they celebrate – the groundbreaking innovations and men and women behind the health and medicine sectors. The National Museum of Health and Medicine has been collecting, showcasing, and telling the history of medicine, in addition to the history of American military medicine, for well over 150 years. The museum offers a permanent collection of objects and memorabilia spanning categories such as historical medicine, anatomical, neuroanatomical, human developmental anatomy, and the Otis Historical Archives. The museum also has a steady rotation of visiting exhibits so there’s always something new to see.
2500 Linden Lane, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910, Phone: 301-319-3000
