Cool Springs Run loops

I'm slowly getting to know all the trails in Black Hill Regional Park. The eastern portion is right on the edges of neighborhoods, with lots of entrances; the center has a lot of park infrastructure, like picnic pavilions and boat rentals. The western section has only natural-surface paths and a more remote in feeling than some of the other parts of the park.

The Cool Spring Run section is in the northwest corner. From the parking by the side of the road, the trail heads downhill towards the lake, and from there roughly follows the shore all the way the the southern end of the lake. Along the way, though, there are several loop trails. While Cool Spring Run is used more by cyclists than pedestrians, some of the loops see very little traffic. This was made immediately clear by how crunchy with leaves various segments were!

My most recent hike was 7.5 miles, and while there are no big hills, total elevation gain was close to 900 feet. I started pretty early in the morning, while fog was still rising off the lake. It had cleared off by the time I returned to my car.

Into the Paw Paw Tunnel

As part of the Hike with PATC 2023 challenge, we visited a rather distinctive part of the C&O Canal - the recently reopened Paw Paw Tunnel.

This tunnel was built in a spot where the Potomac is quite sinuous and the hills are tall, so it was easier to tunnel through than going around. The NPS had closed this tunnel for some repairs, but it re-opened this fall.

We hiked from the nearest parking lot, through the tunnel to a campsite by the river, and back. There are alternative overland trails, if you prefer not to double back. As we did it, the hike was relatively short, and very flat.