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Muddy Shoe Review: Lower Monocacy River Trail
A GPS adventure waiting to happen?By Ed Schultze
March/April 2006
For the Washington Running Report
"Walk on a rainbow trail; walk on a trail of song, and all about you will be beauty. There is a way out of every dark mist, over a rainbow trail." --Virginia Woolf
The Monocacy River flows through much of Frederick County and as it gets close to the Potomac is close to the Frederick- Montgomery County Line. Forty-one of its 55 or so miles constitute a designated water trail. Reportedly, this river trail is one of the most scenic in the state, but that is another story.
Trail runners might be interested in checking out the trails and parkland surrounding the Monocacy in the general Dickerson area. Those trail runners who are having fun with GPS devices might particularly enjoy the opportunity these yet-to-be-established trails offer.
First, to dispense with the formalities: there are no restrooms, no water, no trail maps, or, for that matter, no blazed trails. However, there are a parking lot, substantial trails, and much history here. This trail system, therefore, gets a rating of: one abandoned car, one antique kitchen appliance, and one pink flamingo--meaning there are definite opportunities for trail running but this is no Cabin John Park.
The best place to park and explore the trails is on the Montgomery County side of the Route 28 bridge. There is a public gravel lot surrounded by 2000 acres of park land under the authority of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), mainly on the east side of Route 28. Runners can also park on Park Mills Road, on Ed Sears Road, and along Route 28 at some pullover spots.
Starting with the eastern and larger parcel of parkland, runners can begin their jaunt by hitting the double track trail that goes directly away from the parking lot. It is easy to run a half-hour or an hour up these trails and back, making sure you remember how and which way you came in. However, there are basically three general corridors that runners might attempt.
Bearing generally left, more or less following the eastern and southern side of the river, there are marked and unmarked trails. Some trails are in desperate need of erosion control and you will cross a gravel road and two, maybe three, perennial streams as you follow the river as it bears north toward Ed Sears and Park Mills Road. Just to confuse the runners, there are several side trails--probably used for hunting--and a few fields that are being reforested and some that seem to simply be idle.
The second and perhaps middle corridor follows along the Furnace Branch stream, which has many perennial and intermittent feeder creeks, to Ed Sears Road which has a parking lot for the hunters maybe three miles or so up from Route 28. The trails along this corridor really criss-cross the creek several times going upstream, not unlike the trails between Rock Creek and Beach Drive in DC. It seems like a runner could easily zigzag his or her way up the creek. There is one small parcel of private property right in the middle of this general area. It is marked.
The third, lower, corridor offers some nice history for the first mile or two, a nice ridge trail, a good amount of rock outcroppings, and a lush mixture of laurel, hardwoods, and softwoods. A woman walking her dogs through this area recently pointed out the historic stone iron furnace cut into the side of the hill which at one point had railroad tracks to haul carloads of melted ore out of the woods. This lady was particularly taken by the slightly green stained stone surrounding the iron furnace and not so taken by the occasional foxhunts that are now conducted on this side of the woods.
However, the hidden treasure for the trail runner might be that the DNR lands here end and abut with the Stronghold Foundation lands, along and north of Mt. Ephraim Road. Several sources have reported that it is a clear shot from this area to access the Sugarloaf trails and mountain. The woman with the dogs confirmed that several of the locals access the Stronghold property through this section. This runner has not yet run from the Route 28 parking lot to the Sugarloaf trails and summit, but will. However, it would not be a bad thing if another trail runner beat him to it.
Meanwhile, there are trails on the other side of the river and on the other side of Route 28.
The easiest way to get an extra hour of trail running and not have to repark your car or cross over Route 28 is to go down to the river bank, go under the bridge, and pick up the western trails there--on the Montgomery County side of the river.
As soon as you get to the other side, there is a grassy double track trail that generally goes away from the river and the first feeder creek. Follow this south, through a thick area surrounded by sycamores, going slightly uphill. You will shortly bear right and then you will be between a fenced-in farm and a field partially being reforested. The trail heads towards the Mouth of the Monocacy Road but will end as it approaches a parcel of private property. Runners then head back toward the river and then again west for a nice loop. According to park maps, there are trails on both sides of the river going down to the aqueduct; however, they are apparently underused and overgrown--another exploration waiting to take place.
Runners should check out the information available through the Community Commons Organization a nonprofit organization involved in conservation efforts along the Monocacy River in Frederick County. There is much Native American, Early American, and Civil War history to be appreciated. Right now, runners can run through the woods and see an old iron furnace cut into a hillside, cross creeks where buffalo once drank, and probably run from the Potomac River to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain.