Hiking in Maryland
The Baltimore Sun has a great article (reg req’d) about hiking in Maryland, including Frederick …
Catoctin Mountain Park/ Cunningham Falls State Park
Catoctin Mountain, near Thurmont, gets its name from an early American Indian tribe, the Kittoctons, who once lived at the foot of the mountain. In the 1950s, the land was divided into two parks – one federal, one state – each about 5,000 acres.
Hikers have plenty of room to roam along nine picturesque trails. A word of caution: Some, like Old Misery Trail, are aptly named. At least half of these trails are steep, rocky and strenuous, and sometimes have elevated footpaths (46 steps up the Catoctin Furnace Trail). Still, your reward will be sweet if you take a path such as the Cliff Trail, one that leads to a 78-foot cascading waterfall.
And if you don’t feel like hiking alone the article also lists Maryland hiking groups …
Maryland Outdoor Club (www.marylandoutdoorclub.org)
American Hiking Society (www.americanhiking.org)
Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (www.patc.net)
Capital Hiking Club (www.capitalhikingclub.org)
Columbia Volksmarch Club (www.geocities.com/walkcolumbia)
Elk Neck Trails Association (www.elknecktrails.org)
My favorite Frederick hike is still Gambrill State Park.
In related news the Western Maryland Rail Trail is going to expand 4.5 miles.
Can you recommend some more good places to hike in Maryland? thinking of going there next month.
There’s Gambrill, Greenbrier, and Gathland State Parks – all fairly close to one another. Gambrill has excellent trails and Gathland has a section of the AT running through it. Eastward nearer Baltimore you’ll find some excellent hiking around the Gunpowder Falls area. Down near DC is Great Falls National Park and the C&O Canal path. The path runs for 184 miles from DC to Cumberland MD and it’s all very accessible and easy to hike or bike. There are countless other trails that you can find in MD by going to http://www.midatlantichikes.com And very nearby you have the very good and very rugged (steep ups!) Maryland Heights Trail next to Harpers Ferry WV. The views are worth the climb. The AT of course runs through MD from PennMar Park to Harpers Ferry.
We’re avid hikers/backpackers and have done many of the trails.
Also check out http://www.mdtrails.com/ (on twitter – http://twitter.com/mdtrails)