Green Ridge State Forest

I've done a fair bit there over the years, but not too much in the last couple. (My wife is a graduate of the former Flintstone High School, which drew from this area as well. Her logger father mentioned that in the late 1960's two brothers had a still with "the good 'shine" in the area now occupied by the shelter on the Twin Oak/Pine Lick loop - that's not in the guidebook. )

It's a venue often overlooked by hikers for some reason, but I've found a number of interesting hikes with different scenery, not as brutal as some areas of nearby PA with the rocks. There are some pretty good views such as Zumbrun Overlook on Polish Mountain along Great Eastern Trail, but more of the scenery is of the small-vignette variety. Trails are not terribly well used, and some may still be blazed with an odd diamond rather than the more usual mid-Atlantic upright rectangles. A map is strongly suggested. Can defintely do a weekend backpacking circuit including Paw Paw Tunnel and some of the C&O towpath.

The area is very actively hunted, in seasons.

My favorite hike so far in there was a combination of the Pine Lick and Long Pond trails from the PA border down to C&O Canal Lock 58 then Little Orleans. The former Western Maryland RR is open as a service road/high water route for local residents, offering a short cut from Lock 58 to Orleans compared to following the C&O towpath around the bend. The scramble from the towpath to the former railroad bed is actually right next to one of the PATC rental cabins.

Most roads are gravel, and you can lose yourself pretty quickly among the set of variable sized jumbled ridges. The quickest way to the Paw Paw side coming from Hancock and east is definitely to go into Cumberland and come back out MD 51.

At one point the Maryland DNR was selling a Trail Guide (which is a foldup map, not so much a "guide" in the usual small-book sense). My "Guide" shows ORV trails that I believe are now closed, and doesn't have the GET or Zumbrun Overlook. You may want to call them on the voice telephone to find out the current status.

MRHyker's site lists a few hikes in this area: www.midatlantichikes.com/md.htm

Several hikes are also listed in the PATC guidebook Hikes in Western Maryland (3rd ed. 2011)

Even more unknown is the almost adjacent Martin Hill Wild Area of PA's Buchanan State Forest, just to the northwest. PA DCNR has posted a new map www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/dcnr_20031391.pdf and MRHyker's site has a couple of hikes here. This is higher elevation (up to 2775') and rockier, but even quieter. That includes the south end of PA's cross-state Mid State Trail www.hike-mst.org/ One trail connection from here to GRSF was abandoned (but can probably still be followed), and another follows a short two roads around or through Flintstone (neither set is blazed, since advocates can't seem to decide between one and the other).

One other point: I think the best way of getting to the Paw Paw/Town Creek area from Hancock is to take 522 to Berkeley Springs and southwest on rt 9 which turns into md51 at the Potomac. Some slow curvy areas, but you get to avoid the fun that 68 is in the Cumberland area.