Loopy Hike around Clopper Lake
Details
If you'd like to avoid the highways and byways of life on a peeping weekend, here's a great way to spend a gorgeous, brisk, sunny fall day. The leaves have reluctantly, but definitively, put on their just-over-peak fall colors and we'll get to watch nature make a spectacle of itself. Our moderately paced 5.5-mile (~700' up & down) circuit hike will be over shaded trails, around idyllic Clopper Lake, and along soothing streams, all within the Seneca Creek State Park. The hike is at the difficult end of the easy spectrum.
LUNCH OPTION
There'll be an optional, après-hike lunch at the conveniently located Dogfish Head Alehouse (800 W Diamond Ave, Gaithersburg).
WHAT TO BRING
Bring a snack, a quart of water, and bug repellent. Well behaved leashed pets (especially cute ones) are OK with me. A trail map is posted below.
WHEN AND WHERE
Meet at 9:30 am in the parking area near the ranger station. (From I-270N, turn right at end of Exit 10 ramp. Go 2.1 mi. west on Rt. 117 [W. Diamond Ave, then Clopper Rd], and turn left into park, then right just before the “Park Offices” sign.)