National Park Activities For You And a Friend — Turn Key Solution
If you need an activity for you and a friend in the Virginia or Maryland area, the National Park Service has you covered. This article will give you a turn key schedule to plan a day trip to the Paw Paw Tunnel or the Catoctin National Park.
Prerequisites
If you do not take day trips, you will need to order or obtain the following items in advance and add to the packing list:
- Cleaning wipes
- 2 beach equivalent chairs. I like the ones that roll up and fit in a travel bag
- 1 cooler
- Travel utensils, napkins and paper towels
- Aluminum foil
- Sandwich container or equivalent items for travel
- Flashlight
- Ice packs or buy ice
Items To Pack
Each park has a similar packing list with the food components and ancillary components. On the day before the departure, travel to Whole Foods and purchase deli meats for your sandwiches. For my trips, I purchase the following items listed below. The quantity is based on your appetite. Adjust the slice count based on the number of sandwiches you may need.
- 2–4 slices of Peppercorn Turkey Breast
- 2–4 slices of Yellow American Cheese
- 1 package of La Boulangerie Super flaky Croissant Toast
- 1 package of Truffle Gouda Cheese
- Travel packets of mayonnaise, honey mustard or your favorite condiment
- 1 package of mixed fruit
- Water bottles for you and your travel companion
- Soda or other flavored beverage
Once the items are purchased, immediately go home and slice the cheese into cubes and make the sandwiches. Do not put any condiments on the sandwich. Leaving the condiement off the sandwich will make it last longer.
Paw Paw Tunnel
The Paw Paw Tunnel is located in Maryland but based on your direction you may drift into West Virginia for a moment. Although the Paw Paw tunnel is a National Park, it lacks a full service rest room with running water! On September 2, 2023, the area had a portable bathroom. It was tolerable, but it is frustrating to go to a park where you will be eating and lack running water and soap! This is where your cleaning wipes from your packing list are going to be VERY IMPORTANT!
The area is a gravel driveway and a park type area where you may find some people camping.
Based on your arrival time, you may want to take a moment to setup your chairs and have a sandwich before starting on the trek to the Tunnel.
Once you have made the decision to walk to the tunnel, GRAB YOUR FLASHLIGHT! DO NOT PLAN ON USING THE FLASHLIGHT ON YOUR PHONE! This is a dark tunnel with walkers and bikers coming at you and from behind you! Do not forget the flashlight!
Departing the parking lot you will walk up a small hill and then down a flat gravel path for approximately 10 minutes. The gravel path terminates at the tunnel where you will switch on your flashlight and start walking through the tunnel. During the walk through the tunnel I was amazed at what was built without advanced machinery or even engineering knowledge from that time.
Exiting the tunnel lands on a fairly new boardwalk that you can continue walking on until a flat gravel path resumes. If you are looking for an easy walk, you can continue on the path for quite some time and then just choose to turn around and go back through the tunnel.
The Paw Paw Tunnel area has sporadic mobile phone reception on the Verizon Network. You will find coverage on the parking lot side of the tunnel, but it will be spotty on the other side.
Catoctin National Park
Now that you have conquered the “Flat” trails of the Paw Paw tunnel, you can make a trip to the Catoctin National Park. The Catoctin has actually hiking trails with elevation changes and various degrees of incline.
The packing list for the Catoctin National Park is identical to the Paw Paw Tunnel, although the flashlight is optional.
The travel time from the Rockville, MD area is approximately one hour.
Arriving at the Catoctin National Park, you are treated to a refreshing visitor center with a full service rest room with running water! The visitor center has a helpful staff member that can provide you with a trail map and explain the routes.
The first route to embark on starts off from the visitor center. Walking across the Park Driveway, you will start the walk to one of the main attractions called Cunningham Falls. This is approximately a 1.2 mile hike with some various terrain. I would not recommend this walk for anybody with mobility issues or children that do not enjoy long walks. The final piece of the hike takes you across the busy road. I am not sure why the National Park Service does not install a cross walk. Look carefully as the cars come around a blind curve.
The Cunningham Falls may or may not be “running” in a rapid condition. The water dissipates across the mountain and sometimes the falls do not get the rapid amount.
Departing Cunningham Falls will take you back to the parking lot. Take a moment to use the full service rest room and then continue to the next destination on the map.
My favorite trails at the Catoctin National Park included:
- Cunningham Falls
- Thurmont Vista (Please note, you don’t need to do the entire loop. You can walk to the Vista and then just walk back. )
- Blue Ride Summitt Vista (Please note, you don’t need to do the entire loop. You can walk to the Vista and then just walk back. )
After a full day at the park, if it is on your way, stop off at the Outlet stores in Clarksburg to break up the drive home. You and your travel companion will enjoy the break and it can finish off the day!