Catoctin Mountain

Catoctin Mountain Park

[kuh-tok-tin]

Catoctin Mountain Park, located in north-central Maryland, is part of the forested Catoctin Mountain ridge that forms the eastern rampart of the Appalachian Mountains. Approximately eight square miles in area, the park features sparkling streams and panoramic vistas of the Monocacy Valley. Catoctin Mountain Park is managed by the National Park Service and lies north of, and directly adjacent to, the similarly-sized Cunningham Falls State Park.

History

In the 1930s, after years of making charcoal to fuel nearby iron furnaces, mountain farming, and harvesting of trees for timber, land was purchased to be transformed into a productive recreation area; helping to put people back to work during the Great Depression. Beginning in 1935, the Catoctin Recreational Demonstration Area was under construction by both the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps. The northern portion of the park was transferred to the National Park Service on November 14, 1936, and renamed and reorganized on July 12, 1954 with the southern 5000 acres transferred to Maryland as Cunningham Falls State Park.

Bills were introduced in the US Senate in 2003 and 2005 to re-designate the park as Catoctin Mountain National Recreation Area. The bills passed the Senate but were not taken up by the House, and therefore did not become law.

Originally planned to provide recreational camps for federal employees, one of the camps eventually became the home of the Presidential retreat, Camp David. The Presidential retreat is not open or accessible to the public; however the eastern hardwood forest of Catoctin Mountain Park does have many other attractions for visitors, some of which include: camping, picnicking, fishing, 25 miles (40 km) of hiking trails, and scenic mountain vistas.