Savage River State Forest - Big Savage Trail

Hike Name: Savage River State Forest - Big Savage Trail Location: west MD Length: 17 Submitted by: rswanson Date Submitted: 0/0/00 Rating:	more Maryland trail reviews Maryland national parks Maryland state parks
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Description
This trail is a 17 mile, white blazed, circuit hike along a ridgeline. We did the hike North-South (recommended) at the end of May. The trail is under-utilized and poorly maintained, as is apparent from trail conditions. Many portions of the trail were ungroomed, with waist or head high overgrowth being common along a good percentage of the trail, including many briars. Long pants/gaiters recommended. Not much elevation change to speak of (exluding the last mile on the south end of the trail, which switchbacks down steeply going North-South) but many rock scrambles are present. At times the trail is blazed entirely among boulders and scree and is reminicent of the Pennsylvania AT. The trail was almost entirely under canopy cover so views were obscured late spring. Water was generally good, bearing in mind we were coming off a few rainy spring weeks. Some mud and ATV damage to the trail midway thru. Beware of poorly marked blazes exiting logging road that the trail follows before first power line crossing. If you lose the blazes you can either double back and locate blazes (obscured off trail) or skirt the power lines, west, uphill to pick up the S/B trail again. Other portions are, at times, poorly blazed and require careful attention. Blowdowns and storm damage evident along last 1/3 of trail.

Our group didn't see a single hiker for two full days over Memorial Day weekend so I'm going to say the it doesn't see much use (if any). This certainly gave us plenty of solitude in an area of the country where this can be hard to find. We had ample opportunity to observe wildlife. Spotted on the trip were many birds, deer, a porcupine (!), and one big timber rattler. Watch yourself on the rocks!

If you are looking for a challenging hike in untravelled territory, this is the hike for you. Don't expect to make excellent time as much of the trail requires some bushwhacking.

Directions to Hike
North trailhead located off of Rte. 68, I believe exit 29 south (Beall School Rd.). Follow signs to trailhead. This is just past Frostburg. South trailhead is located near the southern end of Savage River State Forest off of Savage River Road. Car campsites are located near the southern trailhead.

Contact Information
Savage River State Forest
127 Headquarters Lane
Grantsville, Md 21536
(301) 895-5759

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/western/savageriver.html

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