Five Montgomery County Hikes To Get You Away From Crowds
As the Coronavirus sweeps over the country, many are encouraged to practice social distancing. If you’re in need of some fresh air, here are some local hiking trails in Montgomery County where you can get away from the crowd.
Billy Goat Trail
Located in Potomac, Billy Goat Trail offers views to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Potomac River. Billy Goat is divided into three trails: A, B and C. Although they do not all connect, they start off at the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath. You can come across a few small beaches along the trail.
Seneca Creek State Park
Seneca Creek State Park | Maryland Department of Natural Resources
This 6,300-acre state park in Gaithersburg extends along 14 miles of Seneca Creek. It offers over 50 miles of trails, open for hiking, horseback riding and bicycling. The Lake Shore Trail, along Clopper Lake, encircles the lake and offers views across water from woodlands or open field settings.
Locust Grove Nature Trails
Cabin John Regional Park | Montgomery Parks
The trails start off from the nature center in Cabin John Regional Park, which offers over four miles of natural surface trails. The trails a loop through a meadow, around a wetland and along a stream.
Black Hill Regional Park
Black Hill Trail | Montgomery Parks
The Black Hill Regional Park is a 1,300-acre and lake-oriented park. It offers the Black Hill Trail, a hard-surface 4.6 trail path along with 16 miles of natural trail, which offers a spectacular view of the lake and walks through hickory forests. Historical markers in the park identify former mill sites.
Little Bennett Regional Park
Little Bennett Regional Park | Montgomery Parks
This 3,700-acre park located in Clarksburg, Maryland offers more than 25 miles of trails. The park is mostly forested and lies along Little Bennett Creek.
You’ve got to be kidding, the first hike on your list is the Billy Goat trail, it is jam packed with people practically year round especially on weekends! Please stay home and away fron people no matter how small the group is. The longer people keep acting line this isn’t a big deal, the longer it’s going to take to get over this.
Thank you for posting these ideas for hiking right now. It’s a bit unfortunate because trails are more crowded than usual right now so it’s not as easy to keep the 6 ft distance away from people. I am going to check out Black Hill soon. Thank you again, and take care of yourself during this crazy time!
Ms Veronica, congratulations on your work. I encourage you too keep going and don’t give up even when is so quiet and it seems nothing is happening. Believe me things always get better….
Please do not encourage people to hike the Billy Goat Trail during a health care crisis. Injured people are constantly being rescued from that trail. The skilled hikers who can safely traverse that trail already know about it, everyone else is at high risk of sucking up valuable health care resources if they hike certain portions of that trail.