Explore Ashton-Sandy Spring through several themes: Quaker history, exhibitions on the local past, changing art displays, and experiences in the woods. This range offers different starting points for planning. Are you most interested in learning about historic architecture and history, including a changing art exhibition in your plans, or choosing an outdoor activity as your main focus? The places and experiences described each have their own focus.
Quaker history and a house dating to 1817
The earliest written accounts of the Sandy Spring Meeting date to 1753. The Sandy Spring Friends Meeting House is a large Federal-style Quaker meeting house. Built in 1817, it features bricks laid in Flemish bond. This building technique alternates stretchers and headers in a distinctive pattern. The brick Sandy Spring Meeting House has been in continuous use since its completion in 1817.
The dates refer to two different milestones: 1753 marks the earliest written accounts of the Meeting, while 1817 marks the construction of the house. Visitors interested in historic buildings thus have two specific points of reference—the early written history of the Quaker meeting and the architecture of its meeting house. The details complement each other without dating the building itself back to 1753.
Art and history in the museums
The Community Gallery at the Sandy Spring Museum features short-term, small-scale exhibitions by local artists. The exhibitions vary. If you want to see a particular show, check the current program before your visit. The gallery’s changing nature differs from a museum whose focus spans several historical themes.
The Woodlawn Museum at Woodlawn Manor Cultural Park presents exhibitions on local agricultural, Quaker, and African American history in a restored stone barn dating to 1832. Several aspects of the local past are therefore at the center here. The campus of the Sandy Spring Slave Museum includes a cross-section of a clipper-style slave ship, a log cabin from the era of slavery, an arts pavilion, and a large hall.
At the Sandy Spring Slave Museum, you can explore the exhibition at your own pace. Brochures, signage, audio guides, and digital tools enhance the experience. Check tour arrangements before your trip. This can help you distinguish between different exhibition formats when planning: a changing gallery of local artists, historical themes in a restored barn, and the various features of the museum campus.
Forest trail or aerial adventure park?
The Underground Railroad Experience Trail is part of the National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program. The trail runs mostly through woods and around a cornfield. Its route is therefore defined by two specific landscape features: stretches through the woods and a path around the field. The trail’s route is connected to the history of the Underground Railroad.
The Adventure Park at Sandy Spring is a treetop ropes course in the woods. Its Aerial Forest consists of a color-coded network of bridges, zip lines, and platforms, with almost 250 different challenges. Unlike the trail, the focus here is not a route around a cornfield but a network of different features. The two experiences therefore offer different ways to enjoy outdoor activities in the woods, without implying that they share a route.
Choose a focus for your stay
When choosing a destination, consider which perspective you would like to shape your stay: Quaker history and architecture, exhibitions on the local past, art by local artists, or one of the forest experiences with its distinct layout. Ashton-Sandy Spring offers more than one way to explore culture and contrasts a treetop ropes course with a trail shaped by history. If you are looking for a hotel in Ashton-Sandy Spring, these different interests can serve as a starting point for planning your trip.
Discover more destinations: Sandy Springs, Brookeville, Wheaton-Glenmont, Redland, Chevy Chase, Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Gaithersburg
For the broader travel overview: Montgomery.
