Quick Facts

Within the North Atlantic Division, recreation areas include:

  • 225 recreation sites at 47 lake projects in 9 states
  • Approximately 10 million visitors annually
  • 72 boat ramps
  • 2,477 campsites / 1,950 picnic sites
  • 125,400 acres used for recreation
  • 470 miles of shoreline / 763 miles of trails

Additionally, visitor trip spending to NAD USACE Recreation Projects in 2019 resulted in:

  • 3,560 jobs
  • $118,246,038 in labor income
  • $166,531,967 in value added to local economies (wages & salaries, payroll benefits, profits, rents, and indirect business taxes)

Recreation

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the largest provider of water-based outdoor recreation in the nation. 

The North Atlantic Division offers a wide variety of recreational facilities to help strengthen family ties, friendships, connect people with the outdoors and combat the lack of physical activity in the nation. Common activities at our facilities include hiking, biking, boating, hunting, fishing, camping, swimming and nature watching. NAD has over 140 areas that are managed by Baltimore, New England and Philadelphia districts.

Baltimore District: The Baltimore District Corps of Engineers has 11 Corps lakes that provide nearly 40 recreation areas which include camping sites, picnic sites, playgrounds, trails, docks, visitor centers, and swimming areas. There is a total of about 67,000 acres available for land and water use.  These sites are located in New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

New England District: The New England District has approximately 57,000 acres used for land and water recreation with nearly 100 designated recreation areas on 32 Corps lakes. The recreation areas offer camping sites, picnic sites, playgrounds, trails, docks, visitor centers, and swimming areas. There are many recreational opportunities in the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Philadelphia District: The Philadelphia District of the Corps of Engineers offers diverse recreation opportunities on approximately 23,000 acres of land and water in Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.  The recreation areas on the 5 Corps lakes have picnic sites, playgrounds, trails, docks, visitor centers, and swimming areas.