Blue Ridge Country - March/April 2015 - 12

H Rivermist/Monocacy River Trail
Story and photos by Leonard Adkins

The Hike

THE APPEALS OF FREDERICK, MARYLAND HAVE A NEW COMPONENT: AN
EASY, THREE-MILE WALK THROUGH URBAN AND RURAL DELIGHTS.

The small, slow-moving channel favored by waterfowl.

LONGTIME READERS of Blue Ridge
Country know that Frederick is one of
my favorite Maryland cities. It's one of
the most viable and vibrant in the
state and there are many reasons why.
It's developed into a modern metropolitan area with strip malls and
shopping centers, yet its downtown
and many residential areas remain
architecturally rich in historic buildings
and the types of small businesses and
locally owned restaurants that are disappearing from other American
towns. Early-1800s Federal-style mansions may still be found in the downtown area and families still live in
many of the Victorian town houses.
With a minimum of changes, a
complex of small shops in Everedy
Square and Shab Row occupy 18thand 19th-century structures and the
crossroads of Market Street and
Patrick Street are lined by renovated

buildings housing restaurants,
antiques shops, and galleries. Then
there is Carroll Creek Park, a mile-pluslong strip of brick walkways along its
namesake waterway with fountains,
pedestrian bridges, and a host of public art pieces.
I've also always been impressed by
residents' enthusiastic embrace of
outdoors activities, including canoeing and kayaking the Monocacy River
through the city, mountain biking
along the nearby Chesapeake and
Ohio Canal and hiking the many trails
of Gambrill and Cunningham State
Parks and Catoctin Mountain Park.
During a visit last winter, I found
that the city has embarked upon
another project that endears it to me
even more. Tim Davis with the City of
Frederick Municipal Offices told me
about a shared-use path plan that is
going to connect the municipality's

We make much about how the forms of two
snowflakes are not the same, but we never seem to talk
about a tree's uniqueness.
12 | BlueRidgeCountry.com

various sectors by way of a network
of multi-use routes and pathways.
According to Davis, a baby boomer
who uses the system for both recreation and transportation, "As the
plan evolves, it will provide a greater
amount of accessibility to users with
future connection to the Catoctin
Mountains and the C&O Canal. In
part, the millennial generation is
influencing this sea change with more
emphasis on shared use paths, bike
facilities, etc. The development by the
city addresses a need for many and a
want for people considering our community as a place to call home. More
and more, millennials and baby
boomers want to live, work and play
very close to home and shared-use
paths are a component of the desire
of those generations."
I followed his suggestion to check
out the partially completed Rivermist/
Monocacy River Trail. I've enjoyed the
beauty of walks beside the river in the
Monocacy National Battlefield (see
Blue Ridge Country May/June 2014)
but that is a preserved area; I was surprised by how much of the natural
scenery has been retained along a
pathway within the confines of a large
city's boundaries. Just a few steps
beyond the trailhead, located within
300 yards of one of Frederick's busy
shopping centers, the river was lined
on both banks by a young and vibrant
woodlands of various tree species.
We make much about how the
forms of two snowflakes are not the
same, but we never seem to talk
about a tree's uniqueness. At this time
of year, when no longer hidden by
leaves, large branches bend and curl
like muscular arms, while smaller
limbs shoot off in a variety of angles
as if they were outstretched fingers. I
admit that I really need a tree's leaves
in order to identify it, but it's always
easy to spot the sycamores by the

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Blue Ridge Country - March/April 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country - March/April 2015