Monocacy

Monocacy is one of the lesser known National Battlefields, although if we are to believe the ranger at the visitor center, the battle fought here was just as important.

In what would turn out to be the final confederate invasion of the northern states, the greatly outnumbered union soldiers bought valuable time by holding up the confederates at Monocacy. Although the confederate attack was only delayed by one day, this allowed additional union forces to move into Washington DC and save the capital.

This is Best Farm seen from the road. I don't think it's a true working farm anymore, but it was surrounded by fields of corn. In fact, the park is formed by several farms so it's a nice drive through the fields.

Although Monocacy does offer a few walking trails, the points of interest are spaced quite some distance apart and require you to drive from one to the next. I highly recommend stopping by the visitor center to pick up a free map, because there aren't always signs to direct you.

Pretty flowers on the side of Best House. I think it's some kind of lily? There are no walking trails at Best Farm so after a walk around the buildings we drove to the next stop.

The turn off for Monocacy Junction isn't clearly marked and looks more like an exit than an entrace, so pay close attention as you're approaching the river. There is a pull off on the other side of the bridge, but there is no way to get to the other side of the river from there. There is a very steep and slippery slope (I'd only recommend it if you're wearing sturdy hiking boots and are descendant of a mountain goat haha) that leads down to the water's edge for an up close view of the bridge. To be honest, a nicer and more accesible viewpoint can be found at tour stop #5.

Now, back to Monocacy Junction, if you do miss the turn off, don't fret. It's basically a parking lot overlooking a large field. A couple of deer were grazing in the far corner of the field, but the only thing that held my attention for more than 10 seconds was the dead snake writhing with maggots. Sorry, kind of gross, but fascinating at the same time ... I'll spare you the picture.

Here we are on the porch of Worthington House, which was used as a field hospital during the battle. It started drizzling when we got there, but we were itching to get out of the car and do some hiking so we threw on a pair of dazzling rain ponchos and headed out.

For a short while the trail runs parallel to an overgrown pasture, then it leads into the 'woods,' which at that point is really just a narrow strip of trees bordered by the pasture on one side and the Monocacy river on the other. 

Word of warning; the soil here is mostly clay and incredibly slippery when wet.

I had hoped that the trail would run right next to the river, but there's about 30 feet of dense underbush to cross before you reach the (steep) river bank. I followed a deer trail down to the river and scrambled down to take a few pictures. The one above is acutally just an 'inlet,' the actual river is much, much wider.

The world's most disgusting mushroom. It's looks just like a pile of rubbers, ick!

Mind your footing on the way back to the parking lot; while not as slippery, the path has more roots than you can shake a stick at.

It has fortunately stopped raining, but it is super humid so we decide against walking the other trail at Worthington Farm and instead drive to the next stop, Thomas Farm.

Typical red barn.

They were growing a number of different crops. Couldn't really tell you what they were growing though, other than corn and wheat.

 I love the wheat! It is so beautiful :)

Our last stop on the tour was Gambrill Mill. The water wheel used to be located inside the house ... not sure if it still is or not.

Pond by the mill.

Green heron at the edge of the pond.

Lots of Canadian geese by the pond. Their babies are getting pretty big!

Part of the trail by Gambrill Mill is wheelchair accesible.

Halfway down the trail, there's an easy access (non-wheelchair accessible) to the river from where you can see the bridge. We saw a 3 foot water snake, but it swam away before I could take a picture.

Right before the trail turns back to the barn, there's a short path leading to one of the streams feeding into the Monocacy River. Quite a beautiful spot to end your visit to Monocacy.

Downtown Frederick. Here you'll find more quirky furniture and consignment shops per square mile than almost anywhere. Next time we'll go explore the old city streets and grab a bite to eat. I saw a beautiful stained glass lamp, but unfortunately the store was closed ... probably just as well since we only brought enough small change for parking to last us 15 minutes.

I love unusual road signs like this one!

Trip summary:

Rating: 7/10
Distance: 45 mi
Time spent: 4 hours
Entrance fees: free
Trail walked: Ford loop trail, Gambrill mill trail, Thomas farm loop trail (partial).
More information: http://www.nps.gov/mono.