T and I took a short jaunt around Lake Needwood, three miles and mostly flat. Lake Needwood is located in Rock Creek Regional Park in Maryland. DC's Rock Creek Park is probably more famous, but a corridor around the creek is protected heading northwest, and RCRP enlarges around a dammed area of the creek, which creates said lake. It's a pleasant little excursion, although not a destination if you're not in the area.
Luckily, the day after we toured Gathland, the weather warmed up a bit and we visited Weverton Cliffs. This is a hike that follows the Appalachian Trail in Maryland for a bit before taking a side trail to the cliffs, where there is very nice view of the Potomac River and Virginia, not far from Harper's Ferry.
The hike up was pleasant, but the real payoff was the cliffs. There is a rocky area near the edge, and we found a spot sheltered from the wind to have a snack and admire the view.
After returning to our starting point, we followed the AT the other way down to the C&O Canal. We walked along the canal a bit, looking up at the hill we had just been on.
T and I took a weekend trip to cabin camp that ended up being really cold, so we hiked less than we had hoped. One of the places we did visit, simply because it was right nearby, was Gathland State Park. It's a pretty small park; while the AT passes through it, the only other trail is a short interpretive trail, which we did. Neither of us are Civil War buffs, so I can't say we read every sign assiduously, but I did like the Civil War correspondents memorial, shown below.
It was a little pre-peak, but we took a hike from my front door out to the National Mall and the Tidal Basin to see the famed cherry blossoms.
One of my goals for the year is to hike 10 hikes from AMC's Best Day Hikes Near Washington, D.C. On Saturday, I finally knocked off one.
The hike at Seneca Creek State Park starts at the parking lot and does a lollipop around the lake. The book bills it as a moderate 4.5 miles; my mapping app says it's 5.5. However, my tracker came in at 7, (with a slight shortcut out), and it's usually fairly accurate. Safe to say, 4.5 is incorrect.
From the visitor's center parking lot, we followed the creek for a while, which was pleasant, before reaching the lake. There were only modest ups and downs. The hike around the lake, of course, benefitted from views at nearly all times.
