An unexpected day off for me! The stars had aligned…sunny, dry, and now a day off…well, let’s go hiking!
Thomas Farm is part of the Monocacy National Battlefield located in Frederick, Maryland. The trail here is too short for a full day hike but perfect if you have an hour or two to spare (I did!). This was my first time at Thomas Farm so I was filled with excitement that only a tramp down a new trail brings as I pulled into the parking area. Sidekick Pauli was in tow, and together we started down the drive towards the big red barn.
The wind made things cold for awhile…and it kept blowing Sidekick Pauli’s ears from side to side!
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- Map of Thomas Farm Trails
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- Big Awesome Red Barn
Once past the big red barn, the drive heads down the middle of the field. Easy walking! Beautiful view of the mountains in the distance, but totally flat through the field. If there is a negative, it would be that this farm sidles up to I-270. Honestly, it didn’t bother me that much…but the wind was literally howling at times so it could have masked the sound of traffic!
Are we in Kansas?
After walking through the field the trail takes a right leaving the hard, crushed stone drive to hug the edge of the field. During the summer months this would be a nice respite from the hot walk down from the barn! OH…and the deer…wow, there must have been at least thirty deer in the woods! They didn’t really want to hang out and converse with us…
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- Right turn, Clyde.
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- The field
Towards the end of the field the white trail goes down hill to the Monocacy River. It was quite full, fast and muddy today. The white trail was in pretty good shape for being so close to the river and was a pleasant diversion from the field above. Sidekick Pauli had a good time using her hound dog nose to sniff the place out!
Before the white trail hairpins to the right and heads uphill, I caught view of the old iron bridge over the Monocacy on Rt. 355. With a cell phone camera, I couldn’t get a zoom with any clarity so gave up and headed back up to the field. We could have earned a blue ribbon for speed as we raced back to the car…it was a bit nippy in that wind! Brrrr…not quite Spring yet! 🙂
Hike on!
Girl Gone Hiking 
Thanks. I haven’t been there in a long time.
I love all of the little places around Frederick, Md where one can get in a quickie walk/hike. I like walking through downtown, but for me it isn’t the same as walking on trail (no matter how short the trail)!