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Photo by Adam Fried
From left, Hagerstown residents Chris Reiff, Kara King, Noah King and Megan Stotelmyer hike along the Cliff Trail, marked with yellow blazes, en route to Cunningham Falls. This part of the trail overlaps with the Catoctin Trail, which is marked with blue blazes and runs through Cunningham Falls State Park near Thurmont. |
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Though the Appalachian Trail — which runs 2,181 miles from Maine to Georgia — gets more attention and more visitors, new federal recognition of Maryland's 26-mile Catoctin Trail, only a few miles away, has rangers and volunteers looking forward to some fresh attention on a sometimes overlooked path.The Department of Interior recently bestowed the National Recreation Trail designation on Catoctin Trail in Frederick County, along with 40 other trails in 18 states. The designated trails, announced annually, are chosen for social, historic and recreational value. "The trails establish a strong link in our urban and rural communities alike to a conservation legacy for future generations to build upon," Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes said in a news release announcing this year's designations. The Catoctin Trail winds through two state parks, one national park, the Frederick watershed and several private holdings. It is popular with residents of Thurmont, Smithsburg and Frederick. The lakes, waterfall and lush, mountainous terrain attract a substantial number of hikers from Washington and Baltimore. The new designation comes with a certificate and a set of new trail markers. More importantly, it means more publicity for the Catoctin Trail. "Bottom line, it means marketing," said national parks planner Diane Banta. That marketing means the potential to draw more visitors to hike the trail, but it can also help legitimize a trail such as Catoctin. It can also mean more money by helping parks attract maintenance grants and other funding. Mel Poole, Catoctin Mountain National Park superintendent, sees the federal designation as a victory for the trail. "It's sort of a way of saying there's something special about this particular place," he said. Plus, there is a small amount of maintenance funding park officials will be able to apply for, competing against more than 1,100 other National Recreation trails. With this National Recreation Trail designation, Poole said he hoped the Catoctin Trail could take some pressure off the Appalachian Trail by luring away hikers. That would reduce damage from high use on the nationally beloved trail.
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