Cunningham Falls
We drove up to Cunningham Falls in the Catoctin Mountains this morning. It was fairly hot today but it was good to be in the woods. Because it’s a weekday, the park wasn’t as crowded as it would be on the weekend. We need to get Golden Age Passes for Maryland parks, so that we can avoid the day-use fee, although it’s fairly modest, so wasn’t a problem for today’s visit. We parked at the parking lot where the Lower Trail heads to the falls and took that trail.
It’s a fairly easy half mile walk to the falls. When you get to the falls, there is a boardwalk and viewing platform with signs telling you not to go off the boardwalk. As you’d expect, pretty much everyone ignores those signs and there are people all over the rocks. I suppose if someone falls, the park officials can say, “we told you not to do that and you did it anyway.” I saw a snake in the rocks where I crossed the creek and a little later Cathy saw a different snake.
We returned by way of the Cliff Trail, which is about 0.8 miles and is a bit more strenuous than the Lower Trail. It climbs a fairly steep hill and then becomes easier after that. We heard quite a few birds but didn’t see many.