Today we bit off more than we could chew! We headed down to Prince Frederick to the American Chestnut Land Trust. Since we’d done a big loop up in the Northern Tract a few weeks ago, we decided to check out the Southern Tract. Our hike in the northern section last time led us to this awesome raft that crossed a wide stream. From looking at trails, we saw we could hike to the raft from the southern area so that is what we tried to do. The kids were super excited about seeing the raft again!
We parked in a small gravel lot from which several trails started. There was a giant trail map on the wall of an old barn as well as trail maps one could snag to take along. What was super cool was that this place had virtual checkins! You pull up your camera on the phone and hold it up to the QR code. You are automatically taken to a site to register how many people are in your party. The trust relies on donations, it is not a county park. The more people who visit, the better for the park. There is also a column marked donations for you to leave some money in to help the place keep ticking. Oh! Before I forget, there are porta potties, too!
This place has the best marked trail system I’ve ever seen! From the lot we found the red trail we needed. This trail was called the Ridge Trail. Our plan was to take this to Cemetery Lane, white trail, and onto the North-South Trail, pink trail. As you can see below, it was easy to get our bearings! Anytime the trail made a turn, there were markers to guide us, and some on the North-South Trail even told us how far away the raft was. There were also blazes on the trees for us to follow.
The Ridge Trail was mostly flat and easy to follow. Things got more challenging when we switched to Cemetery Lane. The trail went down, down, down, across a boardwalk, and back up again! This was the only major hill on Cemetery Lane, but it was a good taste of what was to come!
Once we turned onto the North-South Trail, we quickly discovered how tough a trail we’d picked! The trail basically went down a hill, crossed a stream and climbed back up again. These were not little hills! They were very steep with switchbacks to help with the grade. The trail was narrow, and you had to watch your step as one wrong step could send you tumbling!
We were worried about Pebble on these hills as she had a tendency to go too fast. I let her climb a few, but the grade was tough for her little legs. She ended up hitching a ride in my back carrier, something she very vocally protested!
The little valleys we moved through involved boardwalks across mud and streams. It was beautiful and we could hear bullfrogs. We stopped at one stream crossing for lunch. Stormy and Rainbow ate pb&j with their legs dangling over a small stream.
We never made it to the raft. The hills tuckered out the kids about a half mile short of our goal. We made the smart decision and turned around. All in all, we hiked close to 6 miles, and neither Stormy or Rainbow complained! I think the baggies of Reese’s PB chips and chocolate chips were good motivators! Unlike Wye Island, mud was minimal as were the mosquitoes!
Would I recommend this trail? If you are new to hiking and / or you have littles, be forewarned, this is not for beginners! The hills are tough! My kids have built up their stamina from weeks of daily walks and weekend hikes. I highly recommend visiting this place, but there are other trails here that would be better for new hikers or littles, like the Frog Pond or Flint Trails. Check out the map of trails in advance to see what trail suits your abilities. Make sure to check for ticks when you are done hiking. We’ve found a few walking on us as of late. Happy trails!