Cambridge is the largest city in Dorchester County on the eastern shores of Chesapeake Bay, a county almost surrounded by the waters of Chesapeake Bay and the Choptank and Nanticote Rivers. Founded as a plantation port in 1684 and named for Cambridge in England, this city of 11,000 people is entered via a drawbridge over Cambridge Creek, whose stores have been serving the community since the 1860s.

Featured in James A. Michener’s epic Chesapeake, Cambridge has a long maritime history, which is depicted in the Brannock Maritime Museum. What brings most travelers to Cambridge, however, is the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge: more than 20,000 acres of marshes covering much of southern Dorchester County, providing a prime habitat for nesting and migrating birds. More than 250 bird species are found here including the northern loon, cormorants, and thousands of Canada geese and ducks. It is also home to the endangered Delmarva fox squirrel. Wildlife viewing is sensational along Wildlife Drive, drawing an estimated 75,000 visitors annually.

The Marsh Edge Trail affords close-up looks at brackish marsh life, while the Woods Trail is a halfmile loop through forests of pines and mixed hardwoods. The number of bald eagles in or near the refuge rose to 150 by 2002. Even when Chesapeake Bay freezes over in winter, eagles like the refuge because of the waterfowl prey that forage in its fields.

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge is a short drive south of Cambridge and should not be missed when visiting the “Queen City on the Eastern Shore.”