Maryland - Catoctin Mountains

(Includes Gambrill State Park, Frederick Municipal Forest, Cunningham Falls State Park and Catoctin National Park)

Maps:

• Software - Topo! Mid-Atlantic

• PATC Map 5-6

• Gambrill State Park and Cunningham Falls State Park - 2 maps from from MD DNR (order on their web site)

• USGS Catoctin Mtn: 1: 62,500

• Catoctin Mtn, NPS, free.

Books:

• 50 Hikes in Maryland – Walks, Hikes, and Backpacks from the Allegheny Plateau to the Atlantic Ocean, Leonard M. Adkins, 2000.  New edition is probably available

• Hikes in the Washington Region, Part A: Montgomery & Frederick Counties.  Ed. 4, 2001

• Hikes in Western MD, PATC, Ed. 1, 1997  Ed. 2, 2004

• Maryland’s Catoctin Mountain Parks, John Means, 1995

• Waterfalls of the MidAtlantic States: 200 Falls in MD, NJ, and PA, Gary Letcher, 2004 (there is only one waterfall, well, technically 2, but the second is on private property and not in this book)

• High Ground.  Peak Hikes in the Mid-Atlantic States, Bill Rozday, 1998 (again, only one hike in this book is in Catoctins).

Note: Catoctin Trail is 27 miles, not connected to any major trails and is always blazed BLUE!

Note 2: When parking in the parks, make sure to take your car out before darkness, since the gates may be closed.

Hike 1.  Catoctin Trail South and Center

Club: MWROP Tuesday Group Hikers.  Chris Nolen leading.

Date: 04/18/2003

Parking: Both parking spots are good.

Topo! Mid-Atlantic Trace: CatoctinTrSouth_GPS20030418CNolen.tpo

Description File: CatoctinTrSouth_GPS20030418CNolen.doc

Hike 2.  Catoctin Trail South

Club: My scouting

Date: 11/13/2004

Parking: First parking spit is good, second spot is on the curb of the road and not good since there are nasty dogs there

Topo! Mid-Atlantic Trace: CatoctinTrSouth_GPS20041113.tpo

GPS TrackMaker Trace: CatoctinTrSouth_GPS20041113.gtm

Photo Album: CatoctinTrSouth_GPS20041113

Notes: The tower that we wanted to see (pt. 32) hasn't been there for many many years, as the hunter that we met told us

Hike 3.  Catoctin Trail: Gambrill State Park - Route 15

Club: My scouting;  MWROP my leading

Date: 12/11/2004; 02/27/2005

Parking: Both parking spots are good.  On the second hike we parked at the Catoctin Furnace, which has a good parking as well

Topo! Mid-Atlantic Trace: CatoctinTr_GambrillStPrk_RT15_GPS20041211.tpo; CatoctinTr_GambrillStPrk_RT15_GPS20050227.tpo

GPS TrackMaker Trace: CatoctinTr_GambrillStPrk_RT15_GPS20050227.gtm

Photo Album: CatoctinTr_GambrillStPrk_RT15_GPS20041211

Notes: At the time of the hike there was no bridge over the Hunting Creek at the end of the hike so we had to wade knee deep. 

            There is a free little zoo with a bold eagle and reptiles near the parking.  Don't miss it.

Hike 4.  Cunningham Falls

Club: My scouting

Date: 12/15/2004

Parking: Parking near the falls is tiny and for handicapped only, so we had to walk a little from a farther-away parking

Topo! Mid-Atlantic Trace: CunninghamFalls_GPS20041215.tpo

Description File: CunninghamFalls_GPS20041215.doc

Photo Album: CunninghamFalls_GPS20041215

Notes: Hike is out-and-back, so I only put one way in the elevation profile

            Description has a little research about a very interesting house we found while driving around after the hike

Hike 5.  Cunningham Falls State Park

Club: My scouting

Date: 12/18/2004

Parking: Both parking spots are good

Topo! Mid-Atlantic Trace: CunninghamFallsStPk_GPS20041218.tpo

Description File: CunninghamFallsStPk_GPS20041218.doc

GPS TrackMaker Trace: CunninghamFallsStPk_GPS20041218.gtm

Photo Album: CunninghamFallsStPk_GPS20041218

Hike 6.  Catoctin Trail North, Catoctin Mountain Park

Club: My scouting

Date: 01/01/2005

Parking: Both good.  Parking entrance at start is not obvious, so is the trail start.  Use GPS

Topo! Mid-Atlantic Trace: CatoctinTrNorth_CatoctinMtnPk_GPS20050101.tpo

GPS TrackMaker Trace: CatoctinTrNorth_CatoctinMtnPk_GPS20050101.gtm

Photo Album: CatoctinTrNorth_CatoctinMtnPk_GPS20050101

Notes: This hike is north-to-south, next one will be a little different and south-to-north

Hike 7.  Catoctin Trail North, Catoctin Mountain Park

Club: MWROP.  My leading

Date: 03/05/2005

Parking: Both good, see parking notes for hike 6.

Topo! Mid-Atlantic Trace: CatoctinTrNorth_CatoctinMtnPk_GPS20050305.tpo

GPS TrackMaker Trace: CatoctinTrNorth_CatoctinMtnPk_GPS20050305.gtm

Photo Album: CatoctinTrNorth_CatoctinMtnPk_GPS20050305

Notes: Trails were covered with snow and we had to shorten the hike.

Hike 8.  Catoctin Mountain Park

Club: Jack's trace

Date: 12/09/2006

Parking: good

Topo! Mid-Atlantic Trace: CatoctinMtnPk_GPS20061209JThorsen.tpo

Description File: CatoctinMtnPk_GPS20061209JThorsen.doc

Hike 9.  Driving in the Gambrill State Park and Frederick Municipal Forest

Club: My scouting

Date: 12/10/2006

Topo! Mid-Atlantic Trace: FrederickMunicipalForest_Driving_GPS20061210.tpo

Description File: FrederickMunicipalForest_Driving_GPS20061210.doc

GPS TrackMaker Trace: FrederickMunicipalForest_Driving_GPS20061210.gtm

Garmin MapSource Trace: FrederickMunicipalForest_Driving_GPS20061210.gdb

Photo Album: FrederickMunicipalForest_Driving_GPS20061210

Notes: Since there are no maps of the Frederick Municipal Forest Maps, we were looking for the trailheads.  Also we were looking for 2WD vs. 4WD roads.

            This is the only time I used my tripod, so photos should be much sharper than average.