Poor House Farm Park — Attraction in Martinsburg

This park is not particularly scenic, but it’s a good place to take a long walk. The trail provides opportunities for a level stroll around a lake, or an energetic climb up a steep hill to a network of trails on the top. There are no signs, and there is no trail map. You simply wander the interconnecting trails until you decide to make your way back down the hill.

There are two sets of trails. Well-established wide trails cut through the property in a sort of grid, and newer narrow trails wind through the trees in a long loop that intersects the wide trails at several points. It sounds like a recipe for getting lost, but all trails eventually lead back to the trailhead at the bottom of the hill. The park’s website gives the total mileage as 5.1.

A disc golf course was added to the trail system several years ago, and it is well used. You might think that this use would conflict with hiking, but the disc golfers I've met have been friendly and didn't seem to think I was intruding. If you are concerned about getting lost on the trails, you could follow the disc golf course.

The newer trails were built for mountain biking, but I've never seen anyone on a bike there. They do get a fair amount of use from disc golfers and people walking for exercise.

The woods are a typical oak-hickory forest. Poison ivy abounds, so watch what you touch. You’ll also see lots of invasive plants like Tartarian honeysuckle and autumn olive. One of the invasives, a red raspberry locally known as wine berries, produces fruit in July, and picking is permitted. The tart, waxy fruit is good fresh and in pies.

Wildlife consists mostly of songbirds. The lake, which is stocked with game fish, has ducks and some Canada geese. Watch your step if you take the trail around the lake. There is a cattail marsh north of the lake, where I've heard spring peepers and red-winged blackbirds.

If you don’t have time to drive to amazing hiking spots like Antietam Battlefield or Shenandoah National Park, this is a good place to...

Poorhouse Farm is very beautiful. Great wedding venue and the trails are beautiful! There is a small jungle gym for the kids to play on, but my complaint is there is only one regular swing and one baby swing. Also, the playset itself is not ideal for young kids. I don't even remember if there was a slide at all. It has a lot of handles for climbing, but not your typical kid's rockwall. Think American Ninja Warrior and the obstacles they have to cross using only upper body strength. Even my 9-yo who loves climbing on everything gave up on it and just played in the trees with the rest of the kids. And the volleyball pit is directly next to the playground which may be fine for some families but not everyone wants their kids playing in the sand. And they will. Because the sand is more fun than the jungle gym. So that's why I took off one star. The playground...

I would not recommend! Booked the barn and house for my wedding and it was not a good experience! The venue was filthy with dead bugs everywhere, tables were dirty and sticky, the floors were gross. It took us hours of my wedding morning to clean it. They need to have a staff member there to make sure the public isn't in the barn or house as well. We had random people coming into the barn and house. They put no signs up saying preserved or anything. With it being a public park it's not private at all which they do tell you that but they could do better at trying to make sure it's not accessed during your day. Also they accused me of scratching their floor and kept half of my deposit. I had reputable paid day off Coordinator, photographer, and cater state that they saw the scratches there. So becareful...