On a recent hike in the Catoctin Mountain Park, we hiked the Charcoal trail.  It was super informative and sparked our interest in the industry.  We had stumbled upon the preserved Catoctin Furnace a few months earlier while we were the way to the Catoctin Zoo.  We hadn't explored to deeply, so we decided to go back and check it out and see where the charcoal that we created up on in the mountains was used.

The signs along the road are unobtrusive, announcing the 'historic Catoctin Furnace District".  I had driven by them numerous times and paid them no attention, but when I finally drove down that road, a whole new world of history opened up to me.  

The Catoctin Furnace was in blast and operational as early as 1776 when it was instrumental in providing munitions to George Washington and his men.  The furnace remained in operation, under different ownership until 1903.  The grounds are well maintained and where applicable, beautifully restored. The Catoctin Furnace complex is spread out throughout the historic district but is all within short walking distance 

The Catoctin Furnace Museum is housed in a restored iron workers house.  This free museum is bright and cheery and the volunteers were quite friendly.  As you walk in, a map of the complex is affixed to the floor allowing you to get a clear view of where you are and what there is to see as you explore this historical site. 

The museum has a good number of artifacts on display.  There are both items that were used at the iron works as well as items that were created and manufactured at this site.  The displays are informative and interesting to see.  The museum is not large.  It only took us about 30 minutes give or take to view all it had to offer.  Before we left, the volunteer manning the visitor center reminded us of the places that we should check out within the complex.   We headed outside and started to explore. 

The museum has restored two of the old houses in the area to use for museum purposes.  The first building is a two story log cabin that was a colliers house.  This home in particular housed two different families.  Many times, these families would take in boarders to supplement their income.

The second house  is the Forgemans house  This stone house is absolutely adorable and has been renovated to include a working bathroom and kitchen.  We were advised that we could peer into the windows but this building can be rented out for overnight trips. 

The furnace is still standing and the historical society has rebuilt the shed that is connected with it.    The size of the furnaces always enthralls me as I can only imagine the heat that must have emanated!

Some of the buildings at the Catoctin Furnace complex are lying in ruins, too far gone to restore.   One of these is the Iron masters Mansion.  This mansion was built on a small hill so that the iron master could keep an eye on the workings of the whole village from the comfort of his own home.   

It is hard to not stand at the ruins of what was once a large and grand house and not notice the difference between the iron master and the colliers houses.

There are two main trails at the Catoctin Furnace.  The first is a short interactive trail that is dotted with signs that give information about the history of the area and the ironworks.  The trail ends at the site of an African America gravesite where workers from the ironwork lay.  The gravesites were discovered during the building of the nearby route 15.  In recent years, archeologists have worked to identify the remains in that are buried here and in the museum they have two busts that were created using the information that they discovered during their archeology expeditions.

The other trail that is on this property is a trail that meanders over streams and through the woods.  It is also an interactive trail that has signs to give more historical information.  This trail will lead you right to the Cunningham Falls State Park. 

This small historical site has been well maintained and preserved.  The history is rich and displayed in a manner that is interesting as well as easy to understand.   Our entire visit took about 2 hours.  That includes visiting all sites and hiking all portions of the short trails.  It is well worth the visit!

To see where they made Charcoal to fuel this furnace check out the Catoctin Charcoal Trail post. 

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The Catoctin Mountain Park is managed by the National Park service and is one of the most visited parks in this area.  Offering fabulous views, history, nature and some amazing hiking trails, this park is one of our favorites to visit. 

We drove to the park on this hot summer day ready to tackle the trails and climb to a vista/overlook.  We decided upon the Thurmont Vista loop.  The parking lot had plenty of room to park and we hopped out into a light sprinkling of rain ready to begin.   The parking lot has a few trailheads and while we knew that we wanted to hike the Thurmont Vista, we also knew that there was a short half mile interpretive historical trail off of this parking lot.  We headed to that trail  first thing!

The Charcoal trail is a very easy hike.  The trail is well maintained and easy to navigate.  Along the way there are signs that give historical information about how charcoal was made in this very area.   We saw the remains of a cart to haul logs and learned about the process of burning the wood to create charcoal.  We even saw a reconstructed hut that a collier would have lived in.   

The charcoal trail was a neat jaunt through the woods and into an aspect of history that is not commonly discussed.  I was happy that we did that short trail.  But it was soon over and we were ready to head to Thurmont Vista.

After our walk on the half mile Charcoal trail, we headed toward the Thurmont Vista.  This trail was also well maintained.  The trail meanders through the woods and eventually starts to climb.  There are a few places where it became a bit rocky, but it was easily navigable for me since I had my trusty trekking poles with me.   (I have a history of some nasty falls while hiking, so I always hike with my poles!)

 We did pass some people on the trail, despite the rain that was falling.  But after a mile we reached the vista and had the area to ourselves.   The area was wide and would allow a few groups of hikers to relax at this vista.    A bench has been placed to allow for some convenient resting after the climb. 

We didn't linger long as it was raining and this was out in the open.  We quickly headed back to the trail to continue on our looping hike.   Very shortly after the vista we came to the turn off point for the planned loop hike that we were doing.  Catoctin has their trails well marked and we could see that Wolf Rock was only three tenths of a mile down a different trail and Chimney rook only seven tenths.  We decided to add a little spur trail to our hike.   Off we went.   

There were some areas of this trail that were a bit steeper and had to be traversed more carefully, especially in the rain.  But it was still a well maintained and fun trail to hike.  We quickly encountered the couple hundred feet of wolf rock and continued on to Chimney rock.    The skies cleared for us just long enough for us to enjoy the sights at Chimney rock while eating our lunch.

After relaxing at Chimney rock we retraced our steps back to the Thurmont Vista Trail and headed further down the loop.  The trail narrowed for a bit and was absolutely wonderful with it's cave-like greenery.  Soon the trail began to descend.    The trail maps mark this section of the trail as one of the most difficult trails in the park.  We were heading downhill so it wasn't too troublesome.    Once at the bottom of the trail we took the last leg of our loop back to the parking lot.  This trail was quite rocky but not at all difficult to navigate.   

All in all we hiked about 4.5 miles at the Catoctin Mountain Park that day. We had some wonderful views, saw some amazing geologic features and learned some neat historical facts.   The Catoctin Mountain park was the perfect choice for a hot summer days activity!

We were heading to the mountains to hike when we got a bit sidetracked the other week!   Our drive to our planned hike took us up Route 15 in Maryland through Thurmont.   As we approached the small town of Thurmont that sits at the base of the mountain, we saw the signs for the Catoctin Wildlife Preserve.   As always, we started to talk about our past visits there and how much we enjoy a stroll through the zoo and how we hadn’t been to the Preserve once this year due to a lack of time in our schedule and of course the pandemic.  Before we knew it, we were pulling into a parking spot and heading toward a fun afternoon at the zoo.
Catoctin Wildlife Preserve
The Catoctin Wildlife Preserve is a 50-acre wildlife preserve that is dedicated to educating the public about the animals that live in our world.   The atmosphere at this zoo is very relaxed and allows you to view and interact with the variety of animals in a safe way.  The park offers quite a few paths that allows for a nice walk that will take you through some lush areas of vegetation and past many different types of animals.
While parking is free at the zoo, there are admission costs.  Currently, the cost for admission ranges from $16.50 (child) to $22.50 (adult).  The annual membership is $60 per person and includes passes for some of the additional activities in the park, amongst other benefits.  There are also family and grandparent passes available. 
While visiting this preserve you will be able to observe quite a few animals from a safe distance.  However, there are ample opportunities for a visitor of the zoo to interact with the animals in different ways.  For an additional fee (check for availability) one can purchase tickets for additional activities.       Some of these activities include a Safari Ride that will take you around the property and give you the opportunity to see and even feed a wide variety of animals from the safety of the Safari vehicles.  You can also purchase a camel ride or a feathered encounter experience.   

​If you are not interested in any of the additional purchases, there are still plenty of opportunities to interact with animals.  There are special times throughout the day (Memorial through Labor Day) to allow for opportunities to hear a zookeeper talk about specific animals and to encounter a variety of animals at the conservation theater. (Check with the Preserve for a schedule of the times and opportunities available on the day of your visit.)  There are a variety of animals that you can feed and pet interspersed all around the zoo.  They are friendly and welcome a little treat from the visitors that come into their home.

Our Visit to the Catoctin Wildlife Preserve
During this visit, we decided to pay for an annual pass for each of us.  The annual passes work on a rolling calendar year so we will be able to visit the Preserve on these newly purchased passes through October 30, 2021.  (And if we visit a total of 3 times, then financially we will come out even….actually a bit better than had we paid for individual passes for each day).   We declined the Safari Tour that came with our membership.  We are going to save that for a nice spring day next year.   When we entered the park, we also  purchased two cups of food to feed the animals and we headed off!   
Due to the temperatures, some of the animals had been removed from display for their safety, but we had expected that.  However, there were still quite a few animals that were out and about!   We couldn’t help but stop and watch the cages where there were young animals.  

​We stopped to explore all of the animals on display.  We each have our favorites but stopped to enjoy all of the inhabitants of the preserve.  The cooler temperatures of the fall day made our visit much more enjoyable and perfect for the  current pandemic as we very rarely saw other visitors and never felt rushed to move on to allow someone else to see an animal.   We laughed at the antics of some of the animals such as the wolves who were totally disinterested in us when we first walked up.  But when we decided to grab a drink and snack became TOTALLY interested in us due to the beef jerky that Jason was eating.  

​We especially enjoyed the opportunities to feed the animals at the feeding stations.  The animals that they have in those areas are a joy to interact with.   They were all very interested in us, probably because they are used to quite a few more people visiting and they missed the interaction as much as we enjoyed their attention.  Ok, maybe the food that we were offering was part of their interest.

​The Catoctin Wildlife Preserve is a great place to spend a few hours enjoying animals that you may not normally have a chance to experience.   This preserve is just entertaining.  From meercats to wolves, from alligators to emus and from snakes to black swans; the Wildlife preserve in Thurmont Maryland offers fun for all ages!   We have our annual pass; we will be back!