Directions: From Route I-70 East of Hagerstown, Maryland. .
.
1. Take I-70 Exit 35 and get on State Route 66 South,
2. Proceed south on Route 66 about one and a half miles and turn Left
(East) on State Route 40,
3. Proceed east on Route 40 about four miles (up South Mountain) and turn
right into the entrance of Greenbrier State Park,
4. Proceed about a mile to the entry kiosk and pay the entry fee*,
5. Proceed another half mile and bear right and find a parking place in
one of the right-most parking lots.
6. From the lot, look across the lake to its right side (a dyke) and
that's a great place to enter the trail system.
* - At this writing, it's $4 for out-of-state folks, per vehicle.
Trail Information: Pick up a map at the entrance kiosk or look
at the map sign at the trail entrance described in #6, above. (The trails
system has a map sign posted at each of its major junctions.) There is an
outer ring trail circuit that encompasses about seven miles of mountainous
trails with connecting trails that cut through the middle. These trails
take you through rocky mountainous terrain with long stretches of rock-free
trail. Make your run as long as you like. There is no safe water or
any other services (except in the warm season when the park provides services
for loads and loads of swimmers at the lake), so take everything you'll need
along with you. That said, you're never terribly far from the parking lot.
Miscellaneous Information: This run takes you though lots of
Catoctin granite and meta-basalt and old abandoned homesteads. There are
no scenic overlooks; it's a closed-in forest run pure and simple. . .but quite
nice anyway. This course is one of the Olympic Games mountain biking
qualification runs, so be alert for cyclists (me among them when I'm not
running). . . .and deer hunters in season. Afterward, you can go back
westward on Route 40 about four miles for a soda at the Sheet's store at the
intersection of Rt. 66.
Michael S. Arant