Hike Chimney Rock - Moderate/steep 4 miles (860' EL.) AND Maple Syrup Festival

Everyone likes a reward after a strenuous hike, right? How about some freshly cooked maple syrup treats and live music? That's right - The Annual Maple Syrup Festival is back at Cunningham Falls!

But first... The Hike. We will meet in front of the Catoctin Mountain Visitor Center along MD 77, do quick introduction and then start hiking promptly at 10am. We will have a fairly consistent elevation gain all the way to Wolf Rock, which doesn't have an amazing view, but does have some pretty neat crevasses to (optionally) leap over. From there it is a fairly level trek to the spectacular lookout on Chimney Rock, where you can see all the way to Rockville! If it isn't too windy, we can break here for a snack. From there, it is a number of switchbacks descending the mountain and winding along MD 77, back to the Visitor Center. At only 4 miles, I wouldn't call this an exhausting hike, but it is certainly one of the steepest that we tackle in this group.

After we regroup and use the restrooms (probably around 12:30), members are welcome to depart (lame) or drive across the street to Cunningham Falls for the festival. Grab some waffle dippers, watch a demonstration about tapping a tree, and buy some home made maple butter. There should also be a lunch vendor and a live band inside the tent. I believe there is a $5 entrance fee for the park.

For Alltrails users, we'll follow this exact route: https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/us/maryland/wolf-rock-chimney-rock-trail?mobileMap=false&ref=sidebar-static-map

PDF maps of both parks are here:
Catoctin Mountain (Orange Blaze Trail)
Cunningham Falls