Appalachian Trail in Maryland - Appalachian Trail Conservancy
Gathland State Park - Maryland Department of Natural Resources
South Mountain State Park - Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Appalachian Trail - Maryland Department of Natural Resources
C&O Canal National Historical Park - National Park Service
DIRECTIONS:
GPS Coordinates 39.40613, -77.63921
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| One of two parking lots at Gathland State Park. |
TRAIL MAPS:
Maps 5 & 6 - Appalachian Trail Across Maryland and the Catoctin Trail - Potomac Appalachian Trail Club
HIKE DISTANCE: 15.4 miles
THE HIKE:
In early October 2019 I had done a similar 2-day hiking trip on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia and Dolly Sods in West Virginia. I really enjoyed that trip so it was almost a last minute decision to do something similar again. This year it was a section of Appalachian Trail in Maryland, overnighting in a motel in Winchester, Virginia then North Fork Mountain in West Virginia the second day.
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| Ruins and historical buildings in Gathland State Park. |
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| From the parking lot the Appalachian Trail crosses Gapland Road ... |
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| ... follows the park road a short distance ... |
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| ... then turns left just before a second parking lot. |
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| I had read that this is one of the easiest sections of the Appalachian Trail and it is - mostly smooth woods road all along the ridge of South Mountain. |
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| Caveney Wilderness Memorial |
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| There is a wall of rocks along the actual ridge on the left. |
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| Turning left to check out the shelter. We'd be using that bench for a break on the way back. |
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| It's one of the swankiest shelters I have seen. |
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| Back to the AT heading south. |
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| I had grabbed someone's track off of Gaia where it showed them taking a trail down to a road. I figured this would be a nice alternative rather than a straight out and back on the AT. |
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| Green is the track I loaded to my phone leaving the AT. |
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| It starts out as a faint path (so it is being used somewhat) |
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| then opens up into a clear woods road that descends fairly gently down the mountain. |
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| At the bottom the gated woods road ends at Weverton Road where we turned left. |
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| There is nothing posted so it looks like this is all park land. |
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| There is a country store just after turning on Weverton Road where you can grab a soda or a beer! |
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| It's not a bad road walk at all and there is some nice scenery. |
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| Oh no! Well, it did not say the road was closed, just blocked off to traffic so I decided to forge ahead. I really did not want to turn back the way I came. I could have also turned right here then left on busy Route 67 but that did not sound very appealing. |
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| For the longest time there was no road work. Turns out it would be way at the other end of the 1.4 mile road walk. |
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| And there is it. Would they let us pass? I spoke to the woman in the truck and she said it was fine, to just keep to the left of the trucks since they were working on the right. |
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| Well, that looked easy enough until we got past this truck. There was another truck right in front of it closer to the side of the road and a truck to the right that one with no space in between which sent us into sticker bushes. The men working there were so nice and offered to stop and move a truck so we could get by but I told them that was OK, they didn't need to do that. It wasn't the first time I had been through sticker bushes and we were almost through it anyway. I actually made it through without any bloodshed. |
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| Shortly after these ruins we turned right on Weverton Cliffs Road ... |
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| ... then left into the park and ride lot which is where people park to get to Weverton Cliffs. I wanted to scout it out as a potential parking spot for a future hike. |
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| At the far end of the lot several side trails lead right to the Appalachian Trail where we turned right to head down to the Potomac River. |
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| Going under Route 340. |
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| The trail comes out on a road where there is parking along the side - another parking alternative. |
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| The AT crosses railroad tracks and just our luck we had to wait for a train, the LONGEST train ever. We waiting at least 20 minutes. |
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| Finally able to cross over. |
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| Straight ahead ... |
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| ... the AT turns right following the C&O Canal Towpath. Don't you just love how someone left their trash right under he "Trash Free Park" sign? I would have packed it out but I still had too far to hike. |
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| C&O Canal Towpath |
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| Just after crossing over Israel Creek ... |
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| ... there is an unmarked trail on the left. |
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| It's a well-defined footpath that leads to ... |
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| ... nice views of the Potomac River. |
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| I don't know that I have even seen an old growth tree this huge before. |
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| A right on to the C&O Canal Towpath then left to retrace back to the park and drive lot. |
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| At the park and ride lot we stayed on the AT ... |
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| ... crossing the road to continue up to Weverton Cliffs. |
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| The trail switchbacks up steeply at times. |
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| At the top, right on the blue-blazed trail to Weverton Cliffs. |
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| At the cliffs, I parked Brodie off to the side and ventured out myself first. You have to go out on the jagged rocks to get to views. |
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| To the right is Harpers Ferry. |
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| Two eagles were circling. |
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| The Potomac River from Weverton Cliffs. |
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| Another couple was there so I retrieved Brodie and we took pictures for one another. At first Brodie tried to climb into my lap. |
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| That's more like it. |
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| Leaving Weverton Cliffs on the blue trail ... |
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| ... to continue north on the AT. |
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| About a mile or so out from Weverton Cliffs it's actually pretty rocky but smooths out again nearing the point where I had left the AT earlier in the hike. |
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| Retracing on smoother trail all the way back to Gathland State Park. |
