Washington Monument State Park

The view is great - you can see West Virginia and many Maryland towns that are marked on a chart. A short walk from the park (longer walk from Pen Mar if you are in the Trail) but a nice stop. You can walk up inside the monument too. The park down the way has water! A nice perk for backpack hikers.

This is a beautiful and challenging hike. It's very doable but has lots of steep inclines. The Washington monument area is informative and affords amazing vistas!

This Western Maryland state park holds not only a lot of historical artifacts, but an incredible breath-taking overlook. The hike to the Washington Monument is less than a mile, very easy to do for most ages.

Washington Monument State Park Review Washington Monument State Park in Maryland is a fantastic destination for hikers, history lovers, and nature enthusiasts. Located on South Mountain, this park offers stunning panoramic views, beautiful seasonal foliage, and a relatively short but rewarding hike to the historic stone monument dedicated to George Washington. Spectacular Views & Heights The hike to the monument, while not overly strenuous, does include some elevation gain. At the summit, visitors are treated to breathtaking views stretching across the rolling hills of western Maryland. On clear days, you can see well into the surrounding valleys, making it a prime spot for photographers and sightseers. Seasonal Foliage: Spring, Summer & Fall Spring brings a burst of vibrant wildflowers and fresh greenery, making the landscape come alive with color. Summer offers dense, lush tree cover, providing ample shade along the trails while still allowing for clear views from the monument. Fall is the real showstopper, with the surrounding forests transforming into a brilliant mix of red, orange, and yellow. This makes autumn one of the best times to visit. Wildlife & Copperhead Snake Warning Nature lovers will appreciate the diverse wildlife in the park, but hikers should be cautious during warmer months. Copperhead snakes, which are venomous, are known to sunbathe on rocks and along trails, especially in the late spring and summer. Staying on marked paths, watching your step in rocky areas, and avoiding tall grass can help minimize encounters. Final Thoughts Washington Monument State Park is a perfect blend of history, natural beauty, and adventure. Whether you're visiting for the incredible views, the changing foliage, or a bit of history, it’s well worth the trip. Just wear sturdy shoes, bring a camera, and stay alert during snake season!

Interesting site, great short walk up the hill with nice views from top

Always a great place for any occasion! My mom has been bringing my siblings and I here forever !! Ive carried on the tradition with my children and grandchildren ! We just had my mom’s 75 birthday there last November!! Also the place where we started our traditional Thanksgiving hike on the Appalachian Trail. Completed the whole trail in Md !! What ??? Get some !!

This place is a gem!! Very well maintained, neat and clean with ample picnic spots available. Take a short hike to reach the Monument and enjoy the stunning views of the valley below. MD resident pay 2$ entry fee while outsiders pay 4$ per vehicle.

Amazing place to visit. You can park in the parking lot to the Washington Monument State Park and it’s a much shorter trail. We walked from Annapolis Rock and Black Rock trail head parking lot, a 3.6 mile hike. Its pretty easy. A wonderful walk in the woods. Very hard to imagine building that by hand in the late 1820s.

While on a road trip, we stopped to check out the Washington Monument State Park on a Monday. Lucky for us, no one was there, and we had the place all to ourselves. And the bathrooms were unlocked. Yay! It's a nice short hike up to the monument and overlook area. You can climb to the top of the monument using the little stairs inside the structure. You're rewarded with an incredible view of the vista when you reach the top and emerge from the stones. The history is interesting. You also get a bonus - a little hike on the Appalachian Trail. Watch out for bears and copperhead snakes. Oh my!

For a cool piece of history, this monument is worth the short hike. It is the first monument dedicated to Washington before all other monuments dedicated to the first president. As your drive up South Mountain you will have to pay for your vehicle to drive up to the very top (and I would recommend it because of all the curves just to go up in a car). It will be $2 for Maryland vehicles and double for out-of-state cars. Once you get up the parking lot, you will still have to take a short hike up to get to the monument. Along the way are milestone markers that highlight Washington's important historical events so it makes for a more interesting trek up. Once you're up there, you are treated to a marvelous view of the countryside. It was a good way to end the day. The only downside was that the restrooms were already "closed for the season" (we went on Veterans Day). I would think that they would keep this open since they could expect more visitors who may wish to make this stop after visiting Antietam.

[Coronavirus review] It's outdoors, and if you're looking for a place where you can't catch a virus, the brisk breeze that greeted me atop the hill would likely have blown any airborne pathogen away, had anyone else been there. While they call it the "original" Washington monument because its inception predates the better-known obelisk on the National Mall, this one has been reconstructed multiple times. It is an interesting site, but there's not a whole lot else going on in the immediate vicinity (though if you're up for a 4-month hike the Appalachian Trail passes through), and there are several other destinations in the greater area with more to do. One can go inside the tower on normal days it seems, but it was closed when I visited. So I see this park as a brief stop out of curiosity. Park rangers were using the low-traffic opportunity to do work on the path up to the monument, but what really needed work is the road one drives in on, which seems about a decade overdue for resurfacing. Seeing as how they're still asking us to self-pay a couple of bucks for the entrance fee, the state ought to produce roads that don't make me nervous about my tires.

Washington Monument State Park is interesting for two reasons: 1) The Appalachian Trail goes through it proving that there is natural beauty in Maryland. The views in this park into the valley are beautiful. 2) The OG Washington Monument. More than 50 years before the Washington Monument was built on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the people near Middletown, Maryland built a stone tower on a hill called the Washington Monument. 500 people built it in one day and it still stands as the very first monument named after George Washington. As you walk up to the monument, you can learn about key dates associated with the first president. There's a small visitor's center that walks people through the history of this state park (note: the center is closed during the winter).

Beautiful short hike up to the top of the mountain. The view over the valley is majestic. Being on th Appalachiangrail vendor 1/2 mile is way cool. Great experience!

Absolutely a spectacular destination hike on AT from either north,south, or nearby parking lot. Incredible views, well maintained, historical and simply a must if you are visiting or a local.

Beautiful scenery and monument. Worth every uphill step to check it out. Appalachian trail adjacent is an opportunity to check out more sights and history. Parking at the park is plentiful.

Home of the original George Washington monument. It's a small hike to get to the hand stacked stone monument. I choose to walk around the giant open field like area, and soak up some sun. They have a camping area for tents, and sparsely spaced grills and picnic tables. I love it here.

Not a business just a beautiful view and history the very first monument to Washington and built by local Boonsboro people. A visitor can also see many birds as this is a flight path. Lots of fun climbing the tower

On a brisk december day I made my way out here with a few friends for a hike. Finding the parking lot was incredibly easy - and while it seems like ample parking - even on a 30 degree day with a light dusting of snow, more than half the spots were taken. I'd suggest going early if you're hiking in prime season. The hike starts off with a gentle climb and follows 70 for a bit - so you get a ton of noise from the highway. Don't let this put you off, before you know it you're heading down a bit of a hill and leaving civilization behind (if you ignore the very well maintained trail and numerous people you'll see on the trail). The trail is easy to follow - though do some research before if you want to find the look outs (one involves branching off on a blue trail for a little bit). We did a bit over 5 miles and saw two look outs. It's the Appalachian trail, so you could hike to Main or Georgia if you are so inclined. Fun AT fact - Scott Jurek broke the record for a through hike in July of 2015, only to be beaten a year later by Karl Meltzer who did the 2,190 mile hike in 45 days and 22 hours and 38 minutes - 10 hours faster than Scott. That's an average of 47 miles a day.

Great views from the monument! We saw a good number of hikers and campers. Everyone wore masks when passing others.

Started at another park nearby and wound up here for a view without a long hike. The monument is unique and view was pretty descent.

Great place with a fantastic view. A must see when visiting the Harpers Ferry area. Stop by and take a breath from life.

Washington Monument State Park might aptly be described as the Khloe Kardashian of the state park system, overshadowed by more glamorous and alluring counterparts--and yet an indispensable complement to the whole, and somewhat entertaining in its own right. Lest I get carried away with a bad metaphor (too late!), let me just say that it's difficult to rate this park, because while interesting and scenic, I don't think most visitors would stay more than half an hour. It is however, an interesting and worthwhile stop for history buffs, serious hikers, or people who enjoy a panoramic view from the mountaintops. The main feature of this park is, well, the Washington Monument...not THE Washington Monument, but a smaller monument built by the citizens of Boonsboro in 1827 in honor of the first president. Visitors hike up a short but steep hill, which is lined with signs bearing facts about George Washington's life. The monument stands at the top of a mountain, looking out over West Virginia, Hagerstown, and Boonsboro. The view is terrific on all sides, and a handy sign indicates the general direction in which you are looking. The Appalachian Trail runs through the park, and the trailhead going north toward Greenbrier State Park is on the path up to the monument. I have hiked this several times, but have only gone a short distance (due to time constraints). The section of the trail at Washington Monument is extremely steep. For an easier hike, you can park at the South Mountain Inn on Alt 40, on the lefthand side, and catch the trail going south.

We stopped here after going to a nearby creamery. The trail to the monument was pretty short and the view from the monument was beautiful. You can take a short climb up the tower stairs to the top of the monument for a great 360 view. For a short hike with a good view this is a good place to go.

A bit of a hike but that's because I was probably chasing a 2 year old most of the time but the view down by the monument is beautiful and its its even more beautiful at the top

This cool park boasts a stone monument you can walk up and it overlooks a hill with a whole bunch of rocks falling down it. I have visited here at least 30 times.

So... I think we did the hike completely wrong, by parking at the lot near the visitor's center/museum. It was less than 1/2 mile to the top of the mountain to see the monument. We were expecting a 3 mile hike up to the monument, based on trail descriptions. Later, we realized that the 3 miles up should have started from the lower parking lot, which was described as "overnight parking lot." I think that's the only real trail in the park, and it seems to be part of the Appalachian Trail as well. Anyway, the view from the monument isn't too bad, since you can even go inside the monument and look out from the top. There are interpretive signs explaining the view, and showing you where Pennsylvania and West Virginia are located in relation to the area. The little visitor's center/museum was alright, the best part being that it was air conditioned. There was an interesting map that lit up and told you about the Civil War battles that were fought in the area. Lots of picnicking areas in the park and we saw a couple of shelters for parties, plus an easy to access and pretty clean public restroom as well near the visitor's center.

Had a very good time visiting the the historic park. There a a super superb view from the thop of the tower. the park staff ande crew are always very friendly and helpful. They are not CRUDE at all. Am very glad that Franklin D. Roosevelt's CCC boys restored the very fiirat Washington. Monument back in the 1930's.

I hiked half of the Appalachian Trail in Maryland this was one of our stops. There was picnic areas PokéStops and bathrooms. More than accommodating. And the monument is a must see.