Catoctin Mountain Park Chimney Rock Trailhead — Attraction in Thurmont

It was my first time visiting this national park in Maryland and it was awesome. Visitor center did not open until 9am est just in case you need to use the bathroom, but there is porta potty outside in the parking lot just in case. Parking - get there early on the weekends like 8 or 9am before the crowds arrive. Plenty of spots when we arrived early in the morning. If you come late plenty of spots off the main road too. Trails - we hike two trails today. We did the orange blaze trailhead entrance near the visitor center and the parking lot. That one brought us to Chimney Rock which has a nice view, but it’ll be crowded on the weekend because everyone wants to take in the beautiful views from the top. Then we did some bouldering on the orange blaze trail at wolf rock. It’s steep boulders but it’s basically safe if you have hiking shoes and decent balance. The views are worth the bit of risk. Last we went on the yellow blaze trail to the waterfalls. I loved the handicap parking lot and a wheelchair accessible trail too. It’s a decent super short trail to see the popular waterfalls. Honestly, the waterfalls were cool but the people in the waterfalls which is a no, no was more entertaining. Visitor center has a nice mini educational exhibit which is great for kids and adults. They have a restroom as well and I saw drinks inside as well. Overall, it’s a nice national park to do some hiking...

This is a scenic national park worth visiting for some hiking. I loved the history of the area, including the information about the Civilian Conservation Core from the Great Depression, and the moonshiners making whiskey during Prohibition. There is a small distilling replica and information about the whiskey still along the shorter Blue Blazes Whiskey Still trail. I highly recommend the Yellow Blaze trail to Cunningham Falls. It was a decent trail with some steep spots but overall really enjoyable.

I saw so many animals - deer, woodchucks, squirrels, chipmunks, and all sorts of birds. It was was very peaceful. As always, be mindful of ticks and bring...

This park is well maintained and the trail clearly marked. We hiked from the visitor center to chimney rock and onto wolf rock and then back to the visitor center. The trail was rocky at times and is slightly elevated. But I agree that it's an easy hike. At our slow pace, we finished it in 2.5 hours. Going counterclockwise...