Gambrill State Park Trailhead

Lot is the starting point for several trails all ranging in distance and difficulty. Some are good for short walks and others branch out to Cacoctin if you're up for the challenge. Trails are well maintained and clean with the occasional dead tree that is welcomed to decompose. Great for dog walking, hiking, trail running and mountain biking (one of the wider ones is especially made for that). Views of the horizon are quite wonderful and it really isn't that challenging overall. Free entry. The lot probably fits around 15 cars and it fills up quickly on the weekends but there is additional parking further down the road.

Well marked trail. Took tje black locust trail today, about 3 miles with varying terrain.

I've lived near this park since 2020 and just recently discovered the beauty, this is possibly one of the best maintained parks I've camped at, all the camp sites are level and clean, the bath house is very nice and the trails are absolutely amazing. I will definitely come back to spend more quality time with my kids and family in the future. My hat is off to the park personnel for doing an awesome job. Thank you for your service. God bless

20231231 2nd time here. First time I parked here, hiked, and the drove up to the overlooks. I'm glad I did that because this time, I parked here and know which trails and direction to hike up to the Frederick Overlook. The While trail starts and end at this lower parking lot, and fairly flat with lots of rocks on the trail. The trail up to the overlook is a pretty steep incline, great workout. Wear proper shoes because the rocks and leaves can be slippery. 2021 This parking lot accommodate about 20-30 cars. The yellow trail can be access at the north end of this parking lot, in the parking lot. The Red trail (black trail, etc...) is at the South end of the parking lot where the entrance to the parking lot is. I hiked the red trail. It was a bit tricky. Not sure why it isn't categorized as moderate. Even though it's easy, it was very uneven, rocky, up sloped, etc... I stepped on a loose rock. It rolled under my hiking shoes and I almost lost balance. If you have stability concerns, Definitely hike with someone or have a walking stick. About 3/5 into the trail, I reached a paved road for cars. Apparently I missed the right turn to continue on the red trail. So pay attention. I looked at the trail map on the side of the road, it wasn't clear that I missed a turn. When I figured it out and continued my hike, I climbed over a fallen tree then noticed some fallen branches. I wasn't sure how the rest of the trail was going to look. It just looked unkempt. I turned around and backtracked. Then I ran into a nice British gentleman with his dog. We chatted and he showed me how to go around. We went onto the paved room, turned right and right after a set of picnic tables, we walked up the grassy area and there was a trail opening between some bushes. There was when the trail got interesting. It was all uphill, required climbing up rocks, hiking a narrow path, and then it opened up to a multi color trail connection that takes you to the overlooks further north. I decided to hike back to my car and drive to the overlooks instead. I sm glad that I did, because the Middletown and South Frederick Overlooks were in the same parking area, but the North Frederick Overlook is much further North. There is no way my girls would make it that far. I really enjoyed this park. Going in the Fall is beautiful with the leaves changing color but the fallen leaves make the trail more dangerous. The loose rocks and slippery rocks could make you lose balance even with hiking shoes. Be careful. I would like to come back in the Spring and hike different parts of the trail. This park has more visitors than I expected. Most people on the trail are very friendly. I love meeting nice people from all over the world.

This parking lot is the trail head for the yellow, red and green trails. We started on the yellow trail and then switched to the black and headed back to our car. There's hardly anyone during weekdays so it's perfect if you are looking for an isolated hike through the woods. The black locus portion is rocky but manageable. It was an enjoyable morning exercise.