Around Monocacy

I do a lot more volunteering at Monocacy NRMA than I do hiking, so I took one morning in July to do a nearly complete circuit of its trails. Starting from the main parking lot near the river, I hiked down Furnace Branch, up Dr. Belt, west along the road, south on the Ridgeline trail, then back out on Furnace Branch. Along Ridgeline, I detoured an out-and-back along the Connector Trail. Just to see the view, I then walked the very short path down to the river. It added up to 6.5 miles, with about 100 feet of elevation gain per mile.

This didn't include the loop to the lime kiln at the end of Furnace Branch, as I've done that before, but otherwise it was every trail in the park.

The park itself has few "major" features - no waterfalls, overlooks, etc. The most interesting view is at the river. Other than that, the Furnace Branch trail, which follows a creek and leads to the lime kiln, is probably the biggest feature. The rest of it is just pleasant woods trail. PATC has put a lot of work in to cleaning up the trail system. Of course, it remains a popular hunting area, so be respectful of hunters during the season.