When it's cold "out west", hikes are often closer to home here in the lowlands. One local (well, closer than SNP) favorite in Gunpowder Falls State Park, Hereford Area, north of Baltimore. Two trails parallel the Big Gunpowder River, and several side trails provide loops into the hilly terrain. The highlight is at the west end of the park, Prettyboy Dam and Reservoir.
Fellow hiker Steve and I have been hiking here since 2005, most often in April and November it seems, though recently we come here in early to mid July for the raspberries that line many of the trails. Our standard route is 16 miles, 18 miles if we include additional side trails.
Gunpowder South Trail gets the most use and so the best maintenance. Gunpowder North Trail sees less use, is overgrown in summer, and usually offers some challenging blowdowns to negotiate. It has a wild feel. There are rocks, sinkholes, stickers, and at times, mud. Watch out for the bees in summer. If you like raspberries, this is the place to be in early to mid July. Both trails parallel the river for most of their length. In summer the river provides multi-use recreation- rafting, tubing, kayaking, canoeing, and fishing.
I-83 bisects the park on a high bridge over the river. We park on York Road just south of the river, room for a dozen cars. The warm up hike is a 7 mile loop on the east side followed by a 9 or 11 mile loop on the west side. The only "out and back" is a portion of the final stretch to the dam, on Gunpowder South Trail, which leads to the base of the dam. With a little scrambling, one can get right to the base of the dam, then with some steep climbing on eroded trail, to an observation deck about halfway up. From there, steps lead to the road across the top of the dam, and one can look over the dam to the outlet below and down the Gunpowder valley, and behind, out over the Prettyboy Reservoir. For the adventuresome, scale the rock wall at the north end of the dam and descend (carefully) to slopy rock ledges for a fine rest stop with great views of the dam and river.
The hike this past Saturday started out on the chilly side as we headed east on Gunpowder South Trail, but warmed up quickly on the climb to the Panther Branch Trail. Morning frost had melted leaving the trails wet and slick, with the autumnal scent of decaying leaves in the air. Panther Branch had several pretty cascades on the descent back to the river and I got my standard long exposure shots. Gunpowder South ends at the new Big Falls Road bridge, the construction of which we've witnessed as glimpses over the course of a couple years. Crossing the bridge and heading west, we took Gunpowder North Trail its full length, nearly six miles. This trail see less use. Even in July, wear long pants here. This trail follows the river, though there used to be a trail that climbed a hill, but we can no longer locate that route. The trail passes a cascade slide, and crosses several side streams, and beaver activity is evident all along the river trails. There are always a downed tree or two to negotiate. On this hike, I got into a fight with one. Since this downed tree was on a slope, I opted to crawl under. I used a solid 3" limb to lower myself to the ground. Just before getting into position, the limb snapped, spring-boarding back and hitting me squarely in the right eye. If not for my glasses, I'm quite sure I'd have lost my eye. The titanium frames were mangled, but I escaped with only a couple minor scratches and a bit of a black eye. My prescription sunglasses got me through the rest of the hike (driving home at dusk was an adventure).
The western-most segment of the Gunpowder South Trail is the most challenging. It starts with a steep up and down, then traverses the rocky banks of the Big Gunpowder River. There are gullies, downed trees, rocks, laurel thickets, and sinkholes to contend with. Rounding the final bend, the roar of the dam becomes noticeable, then can be seen ahead. There are a couple rock ledges that extend into the river that offer good views. The best view though is from the observation deck part way up the dam. Getting there involves a steep scramble up an eroded embankment and climbing over a rock wall, but worth it. From the observation platform, the seemingly never-ending steps lead to the top of the dam. The rock ledges on the north side are visible, and we knew they were available, and we made our way to them for a snack break (again, scaling a rock barrier wall). There is a road across the Prettyboy Dam. On one hike, while on the road on top of the dam, someone drove up and asked us "where's the dam?".
Steve remembered that there was once a trail that led from near the base of the dam to the top. A faded switchback blaze on a tree indicates this. We couldn't locate it from below, but on the return, we were able to follow it from old blazes and cues from cut logs. The trail is there, but indistinct. We retrace Gunpowder South a distance, then branch off onto the Highland Trail, which climbs to a ridge then drops back to the river trail. The stretch of this trail just east of Falls Road is dense with raspberries during the second week of July. Same goes for portions of Mingo Forks Trail, which we did not take this time. After a couple more climbs on the Gunpowder South Trail, we end the hike back at York Road. Over the 16 miles, we accumulated roughly 1800 feet of elevation. Except for the segment to the dam, we encounter few people on the trails. It's a great place to hike.
There are two other sections of Gunpowder Falls SP, but I've yet to explore them. Now, one has to ask... exactly where are the falls at Gunpowder Falls? Well, there are no falls here; the name comes from "fall line". Even though "falls" is the name, there are no waterfalls on the Big Gunpowder Falls. The impressive discharge from the reservoir at the dam makes up for this. Additional information about the park: http://dnr2.maryland.gov/publiclands/Pages/central/gunpowder.aspx
I compiled a photo album of hikes at Gunpowder Falls State Park: https://goo.gl/photos/HTrxYP399mbmnLFE7
Oldest pics appear first, this past weekend's pics are at the end. Yes, I know, too many "dam" pictures!
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