Astronomy Observatory

Google Map

Street view of entrance (heading west on Metzerott, coming from campus, University Blvd.)

Note the forked entrance!
The UMD Observatory driveway is the one on the right (with the swing gate open in this view).

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Directions

The UMD Observatory is located on Metzerott Road between Adelphi Road and University Blvd in College Park, Maryland.

From the East

From the Beltway (I-495) take the College Park/Route 1 exit. You will head south on Route 1 for about a mile until you see a sign for 193 West. You want to get on 193 West. The first light you come to will be Metzerott Road. Take a right onto Metzerott Road. Once on Metzerott, you will go through a stop light and the UMD Observatory is about a quarter of a mile farther, on the left side of the road after the stop light. Our entrance is slightly hidden, but you should slow down to turn left as soon as you pass a large "System Administration" sign that is on the right side. We are almost directly across the street from the University System of Maryland administration building (3300 Metzerott Rd.).

From the West

From the Beltway (I-495) take the New Hampshire South exit. Go to the second traffic light and turn left onto Adelphi Road. Follow Adelphi and at the second traffic light turn left onto Metzerott Rd. You will be passing Archives II on the right. Shortly after passing the "back door" secured entrance of Archives II, you will see a speed limit sign. The UMD Observatory entrance is right before the speed limit sign on the right and is a hard U-turn right into the correct driveway. If you miss the observatory and continue on Metzerott Rd., you will see University System of Maryland administration building a bit farther on the left and a traffic light and residential area just past that. You can turn around in the University System of Maryland lot. We are almost directly across the street from the University System of Maryland administration building (3300 Metzerott Rd.).

After playing with an aerial photo of the area and Photoshop, here's a good idea of what is going on!

Yet another graphic map of the area... thanks to UMD Systems Admin! We are across the street from them!

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Parking

We do have a moderate parking lot (~20 spaces) and an overflow lot across Metzerott Rd. at the University System of Maryland administration building (3300 Metzerott Rd.). Parking is free in both lots. Please follow the directions of our volunteers in our parking lot. Please be extremely careful crossing Metzerott Rd from the Systems Admin lot to our driveway!

Campus Shuttle

[Spring 2023] The Transit is the official UM Shuttle app.

Access to the UMD Observatory via Public Transportation

Sadly, there is no easy access to the Observatory via public transportation. You can try using the WMATA Trip Planner, use UMD Observatory as the destination, to get close. But you will likely need to taxi or rideshare from the closest metro stations.