Catoctin Mountain Park

This past weekend I headed to a state park about an hour north of where we live. With the long weekend, I wanted to get out and hike but I wanted to take the chance to explore someplace new. I'm currently part of a meetup.com group and although I haven't been able to make it to any of the hikes yet, they list all their hikes with details for members. I picked a couple that weren't too far of a drive and had moderate mileage and in the end chose a ~5 mile hike in Catoctin Mountain Park. With several lookout points (photo opportunities!) it seemed perfect for a Monday off.

It took about an hour to get there, with the clouds rolling in and weather.com predicting that rain would come in around 2pm, right around when we'd finish. The address took us straight to the visitor's center and after a quick visit with the local park ranger we set off. I should mention that I was accompanied by awesome company: Adam and Einstein.

Our first stop was the Cunningham Falls, just a mile down the trail--which was pretty steep! About five to ten minutes into the hike, it started to rain. Then, a few minutes later it started to rain pretty hard. The tree cover provided some relief so it wasn't too bad; however, as time we on we got a little more and more wet. I thought it was quite adventurous but I don't think Adam was too pleased. The falls were great and I imagine on a sunny date they'd be beautiful.

After that, our next stop was Hog Rock. Almost anti-climatic, because the view seemed to be obscured by a lot of the forest, but still a nice break from the trail.

Last up was Blue Ridge Summit Overlook. On our way to this last point, it began pouring. Right at the time we stopped at a small outhouse for a bathroom break. Although wet from all the rain before, we decided not to engage in any puddle jumping and let the downpour continue without us. After it let up, we continued on. This was my favorite spot. The rain let up and the sun come out just as we arrived. The view was beautiful. Einstein took the time to jump around on some boulders and Adam and I took some photos. Once we wrapped up there, we circled back around to the visitor's center. We left Einstein off the leash and he did really well not wandering off too far and sticking with us. It was fun.


Definitely plan to head back again.

Total miles: 5.3
Time: 3 hours