The plan Saturday to Sunday
Times are targets, not a schedule. With kids, the trail decides the pace. The only hard edges are leave the lot with daylight to spare and be at the rock before sunset. Nobody has to find the trailhead: Will picks the kids up in the van and brings them home.
- Van pickups. Will drives the loop. Have the kid, the bag, and the water bottle at the door. Pickup order and times go out once the date and the roster are set.
- Arrive at the US 40 lot. Roughly 50 spaces and it fills early on weekends, so this is the one time that is not flexible. Grown-ups driving themselves: never park on the road shoulder. Tickets are routine.
- Boots on. Blaze talk. Show the kids a white blaze and a blue blaze. Hand out the jobs (see For the kids). Bathroom stop at the lot toilet before the trail.
- Walk in. Blue-blazed connector from the back of the lot to the AT, then north. The trail runs beside I-70 for a bit before it goes quiet. Log steps carry most of the climb in the first mile. Snack at the top of the steps.
- Camp turn-off. Blue-blazed side trail on the left about 0.2 mi before the overlook. Claim designated sites near each other. Lunch first, tents second.
- Set up. Water run. Tents up, then walk to the spring with the filter crew. Hang food on the bear pole and show the kids why.
- Annapolis Rock. A quick talk about how we use the rock, then plenty of time to sit, look out over the valley, and take photos. Grown-ups take the open side.
- Black Rock Cliffs. One more mile north, arguably the better view. Only if legs are fresh and you can be back at camp an hour before sunset.
- Back at the rock for sunset. Headlamps on before the walk back to camp. This is the moment the whole trip is built around.
- Stove dinner, then stars. No fire allowed here, so headlamps and a star chart are the campfire. Red-light mode keeps night eyes.
- Breakfast, pack, sweep. Every site left cleaner than we found it. Walk out by 10, downhill nearly the whole way. Lunch in Myersville or Boonsboro.
- Van drop-offs. Tired, dirty, and talking about it. Bags of used clothes and a lost sock or two come home with them.
Your reply Dates, dinner, snacks
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The trail What the walk is actually like
Getting there
From I-70 take the Myersville exit. Right onto Wolfsville Rd (MD 17) in the center of town, then left on US 40. The trailhead lot is on US 40 just west of the I-70 overpass.
Lot: 39.5355, -77.6037
Landmarks in order
- 0.0 Lot toilet, then the blue connector trail
- 0.4 Blue side trail left to Pine Knob shelter (skip it)
- ~1.0 Top of the log steps, the climb eases
- 2.0 Blue side trail left to the Annapolis Rock campsite
- 2.2 Annapolis Rock overlook, facing west
- 3.2 Black Rock Cliffs (optional side quest)
Forecast at the trailhead
Loading from the National Weather Service…
The turn Off the white blazes, onto the blue
A double blaze means the trail is about to change direction. Ours turns left onto the blue-blazed campsite trail. From here on the rules belong to the campsite, not the trail.
Sites
About a dozen designated tent sites plus a few group sites. First come, first served, no reservations, no fee. A caretaker is often on duty in season and can point you to open sites.
Water
A piped spring below the sites. It is usually flowing but not guaranteed, so everyone walks in with a full bottle and the group carries extra. Filter everything.
Bathroom
Two composting privies. Bring your own toilet paper and a zip bag to pack it out. That is the rule, and kids handle it fine once they know it in advance.
Food
Bear poles near the campsite entrance and near the spring. Everything that smells goes up at night: food, trash, toothpaste, the wrappers in the kids' pockets.
Camp rules Posted, and ours
Posted at the site
- No fires. The area is recovering from years of overuse. Stoves only.
- No alcohol.
- Designated sites only. Do not clear a new spot.
- Pack out everything. Trash, food scraps, toilet paper.
- Dogs on leash.
Ours, for the crew
- On the rock. We sit back from the edge and a grown-up is always on the open side. The view is just as good from a few feet back.
- Pairs. We move in twos, even to the privy. Nobody has to go anywhere alone.
- Whistle. Everyone carries one. Three blasts means "come find me". Otherwise it stays in the pocket.
- Evening voices. Neighbors are camped close by, so we drop to campfire volume after dark.
- Check your seat. Small animals like warm rock too. A quick look before you sit.
Packing Clothes, a bag, a water bottle
Will has more than enough tents, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, stoves, and camp gear for everyone. Do not buy anything. Each person packs a change of clothes in a bag they can carry on their back, plus a water bottle. That is the whole list. Check it off here; it saves on this phone only.
For the kids What to expect, honestly
Read this with them
- The walk up takes about as long as a movie. The first part is the steepest, then it gets easy.
- You carry your own clothes, water, and snacks in your bag. Will carries the tents and sleeping bags in the van and up the hill.
- You get a real job for the trip, not a pretend one. Filtering water, hanging the food, reading the map. The trip works because you do it.
- There is no campfire here. Instead we have headlamps, stoves, and more stars than you have ever seen.
- The bathroom is a wooden outhouse. You bring your own toilet paper and put the used paper in a bag, not the hole. Everyone gets used to it fast.
- The rock opens onto a huge view. We sit back from the edge and take it in together.
- The woods have their own night sounds: crickets, wind, the highway humming far below. They turn into part of the fun.
- Mornings are chilly. The fleece and hat are for that first hour. Sleeping in tomorrow's socks is the old trick.
Jobs to own
Everyone gets one and owns it for the whole trip. These are real jobs, and the grown-ups let them do them.
Crew Who is coming and who holds what
Edit the roster in app.js. Each grown-up owns one thing so nothing is everyone's job.
| Name | Role | Carries |
|---|
Safety The plan we hope not to need
If something goes wrong
- Emergency: call 911. Say "Appalachian Trail, Annapolis Rock campsite, South Mountain State Park, north of the US 40 trailhead near Myersville."
- Nearest ER: Meritus Medical Center, Hagerstown (about 25 min from the lot). Frederick Health Hospital is a similar drive east. Confirm the closer one for your route before the trip.
- Cell signal: generally usable on the ridge but not guaranteed. Download the map offline before leaving the house.
- If we get separated: we hike as one group, front to back, so this should not come up. The plan anyway: stop where you are, blow the whistle three times, and wait. A grown-up comes to you. Nobody goes looking on their own.
We'll pick another Saturday if
- Thunderstorms are in the forecast. The rock is the highest thing around, and we would rather see it on a clear night.
- The overnight low is colder than the sleeping bags are made for.
- Steady rain all day Saturday. A dry first night is a better first night.
- Anyone is under the weather that morning. There is always another Saturday.
The backup plan is a day hike to the rock. Same drive, same view, home for dinner.