I am aware that portions of the readership of Washington Running Report live in Maryland. To be fair, l have tried to include trails in that state. However, I am not familiar with the park system, and have not received any suggestions from the readers, so I have tried to rely on a Washington area bicycle map that shows parks in green. I don't know what the deal is, but I have to be honest. I found it very difficult to reach many of the parks as shown. I was clearly in the right place, but there were not any park entrance signs to most of them. I spent five different days doing this. I was about to give up when I found Sugarloaf Mountain. Now, if I can't find a mountain, I need to give up this gig, you know what I mean?

It was worth the wait. I never realized that it is a privately- owned mountain managed by Stronghold, Inc. but open to the public for free. It was a dreary day, but it did not dampen my enthusiasm. I drove up the main drive and parked in the first parking area (there are three). There are toilet facilities at each site, and a snack bar at the West View parking area. I consulted the map and found several trail options: The Northern Peak's (blue) Trail (5 miles), Mountain Loop (white) Trail (2.5 miles or can be added to the blue trail where they cross) and the Saddleback Horse (yellow) Trail (7 miles around the base). There are also summit area trails, which are short, but provide the best views (I walked these).

The white trail was the easiest to find from this parking area, so I hoped to do the white/blue combo. At the trail head was a sign that shook my confidence a bit. It is a reminder that copperheads and a type of rattlesnake make their home in these woods. For a while, every twig or root became a potential snake to me. I eventually relaxed and enjoyed the ride.

The trails are well-groomed, in that you can see the borders, but they are pretty rugged in places. The scenery is amazing, even on a drizzly day. You go past beautiful private homesteads nestled in the park, and vistas that mesmerize. It gets distracting, until you trip on a rock. I got a little turned around (one trail is a loop, and apparently crosses the blue one in more than one place). I ended at the bottom of the mountain, so I took the white trail back up. I ran for seventy-five minutes, and probably only covered 7 miles. The climb back up was quite challenging. The other trails aren't any easier, because they have their own twists and climbs. I was thinking that this would be a great training area for those crazy JFK 50 Mile runners. It is probably closer to home for many, and could easily give you a couple of hours if you did all three trails.

The park is a gem. The trails are multi-use, horse, and pedestrian, but they prohibit bikes. They are quite challenging, but very 'runable' in most places. Believe me, if there is a place you have to walk, your heart rate does not drop a whole lot! I would love to go back on a brighter, autumn- like day to enjoy the scenery by walking the trails. I would still get a great workout.

Overall rating: '5' Muddy Shoes, although beginning trail runners need to take their time and watch their footing. It is a great place for a running club to have a change-of-pace group run and picnic.

Editor's Note: Every year for the last ten years the Montgomery County Road Runners have had a long marathon training run at Sugarloaf the first Sunday in October.