Best Trails in Maryland

very cold today. nice clear path.

Muddy but nice. trail can be slightly hard to follow at points.

Trail is not as poorly marked as other reviews indicate. Pick up a map at Woodlawn Manor. When you get to the open field, follow the woods around to the right. Lots of birds in the field. Deer sign everywhere. Trail was very muddy and snowy but recent ATV tracks made it easy to follow.

we enjoyed this trail. It was still covered in snow from an earlier snow storm which just added to the enjoyment.

Great hike. Also, check out the nature center.

Went hiking while there was about 5 inches of snow on the ground and it was beautiful. A little harder to hike but that was by our choice. Very well marked as well. There are many trails to choose from as well. We will be going back multiple times.

I loved this trail! lots of different terrain and sites to see. A little hard to follow at times. I believe I stayed on the course but I ended up walking over 10 miles not 7.

The white trail was great, we enjoyed with the kids and dog. When we decided to take the orange trail, Jessie’s Trail, it became more challenging. Very rocky and uphill.

Well trafficked, large hill then flat.

Awesome hike. Great overlook and trails

The snow and ice made the hills a bit treacherous. However, I would like to do this trail again in warmer weather.

Beautiful scenery with some hills to get your heart rate up.

With a bit of cabin fever and ground mostly covered with snow (and this trail gets very muddy, very soggy, slushy, and adventurous! I don't recommend this trail after a day of rain...unless, you are like me and don't mind soaked running shoes), I went and attempted this trail. I parked in gravel lot indicated by what is shown here. So, those who said trails were confusing, and mostly 'well' marked, they are right! The course plotted on this map is not all Blockhouse Trail, keep that in mind. (see this map: https://www.montgomeryparks.org/uploads/2016/08/BlockhousePoint-1.pdf)
1. From the parking lot, per the AllTrails map, followed River Road West along the 'Old South River Road Trail'. Technically, the parking lot is sitting on 'Canyon Trail' which heads south straight towards the river.
2. Eventually, you will see there is another parking lot near the intersection of River Rd. & Pettit Way. Turn left onto Blockhouse Trail (oh! I found the actual Blockhouse Trail, lol.)
3. I passed by Fawn Trail, Turkey Fan Trail, Springhouse Trail only because it didn't seem like they were going the way I wanted, I kept on going straight. I stayed right at the intersection of Blockhouse and Springhouse and went over a short bridge. Eventually, I got to the intersection where I found the Calithea Trail. I took a right onto that.
4. On Calithea Trail, heading West (or left on map), you will see the trail will fork, no signs to tell you which is the trail. If you go by tree markings, you would go right. Well, me, being the rebel went left. It felt like right was going to loop me back. In short time it took me down into a ravine onto the flood plain level. Note, I never did follow where that marked trail went to.
5. (really 4b,) Crossed over a creek which, fortunately, was not swollen. And, this connected to an unused dirt road. Even then, just passed the creek, I had to choose a direction, still unmarked, on which way to run on the road. I went left. This eventually took me passed the park boundaries. The red path shown on the map is following this very path. However, just passed the park boundaries, I felt like I was running down somebody's driveway, so, I turned around. Whoever charted this loop on the map made it farther than me.
6. Heading back east, re-crossed the creek, up the hill, I see the PawPaw Trail on my right. Though this is a dead end, or out and back, take it! Beautiful overlook of the Potomac River at the turnaround. It helps that it is Winter and all the leaves are out of the way.
7. I head back PawPaw, reconnect on Calithea making a right, then I quickly see the Blockhouse Trail instersection again, I stayed right and followed the Blockhouse Trail until it dead ends. Along the way, I went right at the intersection of Springhouse Trail & Blockhouse. At this time, I didn't realize I had seen Springhouse Trail prior, short term memory thing, no worries, I'm good. Another beautiful overlook of Potomac.
8. Heading back on Blockhouse Trail, I went right onto Springhouse Trail. Crossed another creek. Eventually, I made a right onto Blockhouse Trail (again) very near the bridge I crossed a bit earlier.
9. Since it was getting late, I didn't venture any trails and went back to my car.

This was a total of 6.2 miles that took me 2 hours, 10 minutes to complete. If it wasn't so sloppy, I would have covered the distance much quicker.

I most definitely will do this again in the spring.

so we didn't do the whole thing S we got to a sign saying no trespassing about half way through. Since it was a big sign right at the gate figured we better turn around. however it is a very easy trail, so if your looking for something super quick than you might like this one. It was good for our puppy since it was her first time out, our more seasoned dog, well she was bored, lol.

tough trail in winter, went south bound. would rather have gone northbound. creek near manor area was tricky to cross due to higher water levels. I'd say it was worth it if you want to knock out all the maryland backpacking trails
also, I used hiking upward's directions for this map
seems to be 27.9 miles according to them

Beautiful trail with two great waterfalls at either end. Great for all ages being just under a mile for the full loop. We hiked with lots of snow and it was a magnificent site.

Beautiful winter hike. We hiked early Saturday, just before the snow fell. It wasn’t too cold. It was a little muddy in some places but most of the mud froze over, so it made it easier to pass through. The trail isn’t marked very well when you get to the middle. But overall, it was a blast! Definitely recommend.

I love this little loop. It’s clean, quiet, peaceful. The path is mostly paved. The parking lot can come up quick on you but it does exists so just go slow and keep looking. I would call it a place to take a walk not a hike though.

Nice short trail, but definitely room to explore to make it longer if you wanted to. Loved the quickness today with snow still on the ground, but just needing to get out.

A very nice park with well maintained trails. It does get a bit muddy, but the views of the loch raven dam are very nice.

The area around the Bench gets incredibly confusing since the trails somewhat disappear and some lead onto private property.

Have always enjoyed this one with my family. Great for bikes.

Well marked trails. Orange trail has a bit of up and down through the forest and Red Trail is relatively flat. Bathrooms/Port-o-Potties at both ends of the Red Trail.

short trail but awesome quick workout.

1-6, The park is beautiful and worth a visit! This trail recording was a very random “loop.” Needed to consult to app on a few sections. Took us a little under 2 hours

Very good

Nice trail for entire family. Enjoyed the day. Review the turtle trail as it has the same starting point. Best I can figure you combine the two to get more bang for your trip.

This is a lovely park overall and it makes for a nice walk. There’s a lot to see and cover.

Great short hike. I went in January. Lots of ice. I was fine in hiking boots. My pup loved it.

Accidentally took the blue trail and 6 miles became 11. Still a great hike on a well marked trail.

Decent winter hike.