View Full Version : Hiking near Washington DC
Hey everyone,
I just finished my Thru-Hike this July, and now I'm back in school in DC... Where's the nearest/best places to go backpacking near the District? I know Virginia and Maryland are next door, but if anyone has any personal experience let me know!
Thanks!
Tennessee Viking
10-06-2010, 12:23
Not much more than a bikeway...but there is the C&O canal. It intersects the AT at the Harpers Ferry area.
Then has some side trails all along it. But I expect it to be good for walking and biking. Not a real hiking trail.
well do you have a car? there is a nice 27 mile trail in Frederick that is good for a long weekend but you are not supposed to go over night there in the winter. its called catoctin trail.
there is SNP and that has lots of blue blazes.
The tuskarora sp? trail is a few more hours west for I have not hiked there.
But we spend a lot of time on the AT.
Cookerhiker
10-06-2010, 14:59
Congrats on your thruhike. Re the DC area, your best bets are Shenandoah NP which you passed through on your thru and George Washington National Forest. (http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c5/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gjAwhwtDDw9_AI8zPwhQ oY6IeDdGCqCPOBqwDLG-AAjgb6fh75uan6BdnZaY6OiooA1tkqlQ!!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfMjAwMDAwMDBBODBPSEhWTjBNMD AwMDAwMDA!/?ss=110808&navtype=forestBean&navid=091000000000000&pnavid=null&cid=null&ttype=main&pname=George/) The latter is not much further from DC than SNP - it's west but some parts of GWNF are closer than some parts of SNP.
You mentioned backpacking so I assume you're talking about overnights. You can string together some loops in Shenandoah, all of which will likely involve the AT. Basically, the AT follows the Blue Ridge and all other trails are steep ups and downs from that ridge.
Backcountry in SNP shouldn't be too crowded but you still must get a permit for overnights. By contrast, you'll see very few hikers in GWNF. The closest parts are in the Massanuten Mountain area and a bit further west along Great North Mountain and Big Schloss. There are networks of trails (including the Tuscarora which has been mentioned) enabling you to fashion a loop or partial-loop hike. One possibility in the Great North Mountain area is to base camp at Wolf Gap on the VA/WV border where trails radiate from both sides of the road.
If you're not a member, I strongly encourage you to join the PATC (http://www.patc.net/PublicView/). You could particpate in one of their weekend hikes to get a flavor for the trails out there. They also have excelent maps and publications giving you all the info you need.
Re the other trails mentioned, I wouldn't backpack the C&O Canal. It's an absolutely wonderful park for cycling and strolls but not fun to hike absolutely flat hard-packed dirt. And while Catoctin Park has a network of trails, I'm not sure you can backpack or even count on any access given its prorximity to Camp David.
Happy Trails! Get out there now while the weather's great.
Thanks a lot for all of the input... I've definitely looked into the closest place to get back on the Trail and figured Harpers Ferry is my best bet, but I'll definitely look into the other places you guys mentioned.
I'm definitely regretting not doing a Yo-Yo now that midterm season has started up!
- Spring Chicken
Odd Man Out
10-07-2010, 00:24
There's a commuter train and Amtrak to Harper's Ferry. Station is right on the trail.
www.localhikes.com (http://www.localhikes.com) lists many hiking trails near DC. When I lived there, about 9 years ago, the Capitol Hiking Club was pretty active. PATC is a must to join for this area too!
Hey everyone,
I just finished my Thru-Hike this July, and now I'm back in school in DC... Where's the nearest/best places to go backpacking near the District? I know Virginia and Maryland are next door, but if anyone has any personal experience let me know!
Thanks!
For day Hikes:
Sky meadows State Park is, I feel, reasonably close to the District and yet has plenty of solitude(at least when you do the 8ish mile loop using the Old AT).
Bull Run Mountains wildlife preserve somes to mind.
Wildcat Mountain.
Catoctin Mountain Park
Prince William Forest Park
You know what? Screw it. Just go to this website to get you started:
http://www.hikingupward.com/maps/nova_map.shtml
dcmidnight
10-07-2010, 08:49
http://www.midatlantichikes.com/ may have what you are looking for. Believe most of the stuff on here is for day hikes but a majority of them can be looped together or have longer options.
Spirit Walker
10-07-2010, 09:31
There is a lot of good dayhiking near Washington, DC. Look for a book called "Fifty Hikes within 50 miles of Washington." Bull Run Occoquan Trail, Cedarville SP, Little Bennett SP, Prince William National Preserve, the Catoctins, Sugarloaf, Rosaryville SP, Greenridge Forest, etc. all make for really nice dayhikes within a couple of hours. Although there are parks where you can car camp, none of these are especially good for backpacking (though you could backpack from state park to state park on the Catoctin Trail).
Backpacking near DC is more difficult to find - you need to drive either to the AT, the Shenandoahs, the Massanuttens, Dolly Sods in WV (terrific but a long haul) or up into Pennsylvania (the Midstate Trail, Seven Mountain Trail, and Tuscarora are closest but north-central PA has the best backpacking on the Donut Hole, Black Forest, Chuck Keiper, Quehanna and Susquehannock trails. The C&O is flat easy walking, but gets pretty monotonous for a long backpacking trip. You do see a lot of LD bikes on it though. We have done a lot of dayhikes on it, but the only backpacking trip we did was a 40 mile loop with the canal and the Greenridge Trail.
the goat
10-07-2010, 11:25
good day-hiking along the potomac on the VA side via the potomac heritage trail (you can actually walk across the key bridge to access it):
http://www.nps.gov/pohe/
Second vote for
http://www.hikingupward.com and http://www.midatlantichikes.com/
Midatlantichikes has had a number of weekend outings this summer including Roaring Plains etc.