Catoctin Mountain Park and the Charcoal Trail

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. 

The Charcoal Trail

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.   

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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.

Thurmont Vista Loop Trail

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!