Best trails in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

NOTE: You can't park on Sandy Hook Road anymore. You can park for this hike at the train station in Harpers Ferry. The parking lot by Harper's Ferry is small and often full on the weekends. The parking there is currently free due to CoVid, as the National Park is closed. Parking at the train station increases this hike to about 6.7 miles if you hike the upper trail. To get back to trail head use the West rail bridge to cross which is down the end of the street away from the train station. Notes on the hike: From the parking lot, you need to cross the pedestrian walkbridge across the Potomac and then turn left on the towpath after descending from the bridge. The connector from the Overlook to the highway is closed from Feb to July 31 for Peregrine falcon nesting (so bake an extra 2.2 miles to double back to the Maryland heights trailhead). Park opens at 9:00 a.m The trail from parking lot, starts by mulch pile in back. You can also take a bus from parking lot to trailhead. Scenic overlook, civil war fortifications, moderate to strenuous climb. History combined with beauty! This is a hike over well-marked trails with many interpretive signs along the way. There are some steep climbs and some rocky terrain. The hike features a spectacular overlook of Harpers Ferry and the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers. However, it doesn't come easily. The hike also includes much history. The trail passes remains of fortifications built by the Union forces in 1862 after their defeat at Harpers Ferry. There are ammunition pits, breastworks, powder magazines, and gun batteries along the trail. The remains of the main fort are at the summit of Maryland Heights. Show more

PROTECTIVE CLOSURE: This area is subject to closure due to habitat protection. For more information, please visit https://www.nps.gov/hafe/index.htm This is a beautiful trail with a great view. The hike up the mountain is steep. It is recommended to wear shoes with spikes and carry trekking poles during the winter months due to slippery sections. Accessibility: There are 4 designated handicapped-accessible spaces in the paved parking lot off of Potomac Street at the southwest end of the trail. All of them are van-accessible with striped access aisles. The trail surface starts as paved and packed gravel along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Trail and turns into a steep (8-12%) and very steep (over 12%) dirt trail at about 0.8 miles after crossing Harpers Ferry Road. The most accessible portion of the trail is about the first 0.8 miles. The first about 0.8 miles are typically at least 6-8 feet wide. The estimated grade for the first 0.8 miles is gentle (3% or less). The first about 0.8 miles will likely be navigable for most trail goers using wheelchairs/mobility equipment or strollers. After about 0.8 miles, trail goers using wheelchair/mobility equipment or strollers may need to avoid the steeper sections for safety. Show more

This high ground was occupied by Confederate general John George Walker during the Battle of Harpers Ferry, September 12-September 15, 1862. Loudoun Heights was also the site of a night attack made on January 10, 1864, by Col. John S. Mosby's Rangers against Major Henry A. Cole's 1st Potomac Home Brigade Maryland Volunteer Cavalry. Mosby's attack failed and ended a long run of engagements between Mosby's Rangers and Cole's Cavalry. The Battle of Loudoun Heights was a small cavalry skirmish during the American Civil War between John Mosby's Rangers and Major Henry A. Cole's 1st Potomac Home Brigade Maryland Cavalry on January 9, 1864, in Loudoun County, Virginia. Cole's Cavalry successfully defended a night raid against their camp on Loudoun Heights. The fight was one of the first engagements in which Union forces held their own against Mosby's vaunted partisans.Show more

This trail in Harpers Ferry National Historical Park will take you on a history journey through the foot steps of the past. In 1894, Washington, D.C. journalist Kate Field, who had a keen interest in preserving memorabilia of John Brown, spearheaded a campaign to return the fort to Harpers Ferry. Local resident Alexander Murphy made five acres available to Miss Field, and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad offered to ship the disassembled fort to Harpers Ferry free of charge. In 1895, John Brown's Fort was rebuilt on the Murphy Farm about three miles outside of town on a bluff overlooking the Shenandoah River. Show more

This trail loop takes you on a history tour of Harpers Ferry Lower Town. The history of Harpers Ferry has few parallels in the American drama. It is more than one event, one date, or one individual. It is multi-layered - involving a diverse number of people and events that influenced the course of our nation's history. Harpers Ferry witnessed the first successful application of interchangeable manufacture, the arrival of the first successful American railroad, John Brown's attack on slavery, the largest surrender of Federal troops during the Civil War, and the education of former slaves in one of the earliest integrated schools in the United States.Show more