Hiking near **Baltimore** ???

Hi Folks,
I'm heading down to Baltimore this december to interview at Johns Hopkins and I was hoping to spend a day exploring nearby hiking options.
Can anyone recommend a trail?
Thanks,
Sabrina

Sabrina,

I've done quite a few trail running races in the Maryland/Virginia area. One was in Susquehanna State Park, near Havre de Grace & Aberdeen, Maryland. I think it's not too far from Baltimore:

http://www.localhikes.com/Hikes/SusquehannaNorthLoop_8872.asp

The Catoctin Mtn. area is nice, near Frederick (and Camp David!). Also, the AT, C&O Canal (though very, very flat!), & there's a bunch of stuff in PA...

If you can drive a couple of hours, the Massanuttens in Virginia are really nice. Then, of course, there's Shenandoah National Park, and there are a lot of trails in the DC area. You might want to Google the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club.

Another good resource to check out is here:
http://www.localhikes.com/MSA/MSA_8872.asp

Good luck & have fun!!

George Washington NF and Monongahela NF (about 2 hrs west) have some nice hiking too.

Great Falls of the Potomac is nice. (Just N of DC.) Some easy hiking.

BTW, the "proper" name of the town is Balmer Merlin.

Spent 4 yrs at JHU many moons ago...

Doug

Thanks for those awesome links!

If you want to stay close to baltimore... you can check out Patapsco Valley State Park (5 or 6 different areas) which is a greenway that extends out towards fredrick from Baltimore. (15 mins from downtown)

Liberty Resevoir has some trails around it (20-30 mins from downtown)


Further from Baltimore there is plenty of hiking in central MD...

Sugarloaf (~1 hr)
South Moutain (1.5 hrs)... annapolis rocks, black rock, washington monument state park.

If you go south (~1 hr), there is the C&O Canal & Billygoat trail which is a flat rock scramble along the potomac river, just below great falls.

If you drive 2.5 hours southwest you can endup in shenandoah national park.

North of Baltimore in addition to susquehanna valley, there is also rocks state park, and gunpowder falls.

There is plenty of stuff to do down there. I would browse the web first. My favorites (within 90 minutes) are sugarloaf, south mountain (annapolis rocks) and the billygoat trail.

Best Regards,
Justin

Thanks, Blacklab2020. I'm going to try and check out the greenbelt. I want to find places that I can run/hike on a daily basis which will give me a better idea if the city is going to be liveable for me.

There is a park immediately to the west of JHU campus. Might be a good spot to run.

Doug