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WhenToVisitParks

Updated June 2026

Best Time to Visit Thomas Stone

National Historic SiteMaryland

Our recommendation

Visit Thomas Stone in February

February offers best overall balance of crowds, weather and daylight. For comparison, September is the most crowded month (~1.7× the average month) and January is the quietest.

Annual visits

5K

2024

Busiest month

Sep

1.7× avg

Quietest month

Jan

0.3× avg

10-yr trend

falling

-50.2%

How crowded is Thomas Stone by month?

Relative crowd level by month (1.0 = the park's average month), from NPS visitation records 19922025.

0.3×Jan
0.4×Feb
0.8×Mar
1.3×Apr
1.2×May
1.0×Jun
1.2×Jul
1.0×Aug
1.7×Sep
1.2×Oct
1.0×Nov
0.8×Dec

Month-by-month crowd, weather & daylight

MonthCrowd levelBest-time scoreDaylight
JanuaryVery quiet78 Excellent9.6 h
February★ bestVery quiet79 Excellent10.6 h
MarchQuiet58 Fair11.7 h
AprilBusy37 Poor13.0 h
MayBusy49 Fair14.1 h
JuneAverage58 Fair14.7 h
JulyBusy46 Fair14.4 h
AugustAverage58 Fair13.5 h
SeptemberVery busy14 Poor12.2 h
OctoberBusy37 Poor11.0 h
NovemberAverage44 Poor9.9 h
DecemberQuiet50 Fair9.3 h

About visiting Thomas Stone

Thomas Stone National Historic Site is a National Historic Site in MD and one of the system's hidden, low-traffic units, drawing about 5,000 recreation visits in 2024. Visitation has eased over the past decade, down about 50.2%. Crowds concentrate sharply by season: September is the busiest month at about 1.7× the park's average month, while January is the calmest at roughly 0.3× — a 5-to-1 swing between high and low season. Roughly 27% of the year's visitors arrive in the three summer months of June, July and August alone, so timing a trip outside that window is the single biggest lever on how crowded the park feels. If avoiding people matters most, January offers the thinnest crowds of the year, though you'll trade some warmth and daylight for the solitude. Daylight ranges from about 9.3 hours in midwinter to 14.7 hours near the summer solstice, which shapes how much ground you can cover in a day. These crowd figures are drawn from 1992–2025 of National Park Service visitor-use records, and are updated as new monthly data is released.

Park overview

In 1776, Thomas Stone and 55 others signed the Declaration of Independence. In doing so, Stone risked his home, his family's security, and even his life to support the Declaration of Independence's promise of freedom.

Weather & conditions

Thomas Stone National Historic Site experiences all four seasons. Temperatures can be very warm and humid in the summer months and wet and rainy in the winter months.

Park overview text courtesy of the National Park Serviceofficial park site.

Frequently Asked Questions

February offers best overall balance of crowds, weather and daylight at Thomas Stone National Historic Site. The park is busiest in September (about 1.7× the average month) and quietest in January.

September is the busiest month at Thomas Stone National Historic Site, running roughly 1.7 times the park's average monthly visitation.

January is the quietest month at Thomas Stone National Historic Site, at about 0.3× the average month — a good choice if you want to avoid crowds.

Thomas Stone National Historic Site recorded about 4,538 recreation visits in 2024. Visitation has been falling over the past decade (-50.2%).

Sources: National Park Service Visitor Use Statistics (19922025). Crowd index = a month's visits ÷ the park's average month.