Catoctin Mountain Park - Browns Farm Loop

Map of TRACK Trail at Catoctin Mountain Park

Catoctin Mountain Park's TRACK Trail follows the Browns Farm Loop Trail. The loop is 0.4 miles, with a 0.5 mile spur to the Camp Round Meadow area that you may choose to take. These two trails combined make for a 1.4 mile round-trip hike.

Catoctin's diverse cultural resources provide several vignettes of our nation's history in one small location. Native Americans quarried rhyolite for the production of lithic tools. A charcoal and iron industry is still visible today, along with smaller industries including farms, sawmills, and an old moonshine still. Historic structures and products of the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps, along with the site of our nation's first Job Corps Center, are tangible reminders of the capability of vigorous youth programs to strengthen the nation's economic and social fabric. The totality of resources found in Catoctin Mountain Park reflects much of the early fabric of our country.

Track an adventure here
Collectible Sticker for Catoctin Mountain Park

Location Details

Recreational Features: Camping, Picnic Tables, Interpretive Programs, Birding
Amenities: Restrooms, Visitor Center
ADA Compliant:
Seasonality:
Log cabin with totem pole in front
Big Hunting Creek
Foundation of an old cabin
Stone bench in autumn
Wooden bridge over stream
Small waterfall in a stream
Path through the forest
National Park Service building at trailhead

Adventures for Catoctin Mountain Park - Browns Farm Loop

Hiking

Nature's Hide & Seek

Difficulty:
Easy
Trail length:
1.40
The Nature's Hide & Seek brochure is designed so that kids of all ages can walk along the trail and discover common things that are often overlooked in nature. Some of them are hard to find, others are easy. Best of all, the adventure never ends because every time you walk the trail you will discover new things hiding in nature.
Hiking

Nature's Relationships

Difficulty:
Easy
Trail length:
1.40
In the Nature's Relationships brochure you will discover how everything in nature is connected... even us. As you walk along the trail, the brochure will tell you a story about a few of the relationships that can be found. Many more relationships exist, so keep your eyes and heart open and you will discover many of nature's relationships - even yours.
Need for Trees brochure
Hiking

Catoctin Need for Trees

Difficulty:
Easy
Trail length:
1.40
By following the picture and textual clues found in "The Need for Trees" brochure, kids will discover six of the more common trees found along the trail. During their adventure, kids will learn about the need that people and other animals have for trees and about the roles trees play in the forest.
Hiking

Animal Athletes - Bilingual

Difficulty:
Easy
Trail length:
1.40
The Animales Atletas/Animal Athletes adventure challenges kids to exercise with the animals. This bilingual brochure gives kids eight different animal exercises they can do along the trail, written in both English and Spanish. From hummingbird hand-swings to lizard pushups, kids are sure to have fun getting in shape with the animals during their outdoor adventures.
Hiking

Nature's Hide and Seek - Bilingual

Difficulty:
Easy
Trail length:
1.40
El Juego Del Escondite En La Naturaleza/Nature's Hide & Seek brochure is designed so that kids of all ages can walk along the trail and discover common things that are often overlooked in nature. Written in both Spanish and English, discover new things hiding in nature with the help of this bilingual brochure.

Directions

14840 Manahan Road
Sabillasville, MD 21780
Latitude: 39.645116100000
Longitude: -77.484221200000

Catoctin Mountain Park's TRACK Trail is located in the Camp Round Meadow Area: 14840 Manahan Rd. Sabillasville, MD 21780. Directions and maps are available at the Visitor Center or Headquarters. 

For downloadable park maps or more information visit: http://www.nps.gov/cato/index.htm 

or call (301) 663-9330

 

VISITOR CENTER DIRECTIONS:

For GPS Use Only: the Street Address of the Visitor Center is 14707 Park Central Road, Thurmont, MD. This is NOT a mailing address. The Park mailing address is: Catoctin Mountain Park, 6602 Foxville Road, Thurmont, MD 21788.

Car

From Washington DC take the George Washington Memorial Parkway north to I495 beltway to I270 north 27 miles to Frederick, MD. Take Route 15 17 miles north to Thurmont, MD. Take Route 77 West, the exit sign is marked Catoctin Mountain Park. Travel approximately 3 miles west on 77 and turn right onto Park Central Road. The Visitor Center is on the right.

From Baltimore, MD Take I695 beltway to I70 West to Frederick, MD. Take Route 15 North to Thurmont, MD. Take Route 77 West (the exit sign says Catoctin Mountain Park. Travel approximately 3 miles west on 77 and turn right onto Park Central Road. The Visitor Center is on the right.

From Hagerstown, MD I70 east to Route 66 north for seven miles to right on Route 64 for 1 mile to right onto Route 77 East at a traffic light. Continue on Route 77 East for approximately 7 miles. Turn left onto Park Central Road and the Visitor Center is on the right.

From Gettysburg, PA Route 15 south. In Thurmont, MD, exit onto Route 77 West(the exit sign says Catoctin Mountain Park, go approximately 3 miles, turn right onto Park Central Road and the Visitor Center is on the right.

Partners

The TRACK Trail program is sponsored by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation.

The Catoctin Mountain Park TRACK Trail was made possible by a partnership between the National Park Service and the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation's Kids in Parks program. This project was financed in part by the National Park Service’s CONNECT TRAILS TO PARKS program, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the National Trails System in 2018.