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joew807
Popular park right outside of Frederick with well marked, rugged trails open to hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians. The terrain is steep and rocky with several great overlooks. The Tea House, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps is a great rental for parties or weddings. Camping is available as well as paviliion rentals.The park is popular on weekends when it is nice, but if you want to experience it at it's best, go in the winter when there is snow. You'll have the park to yourself and the snow really brings out the beauty of the place
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sydney1976
This is my go to weekend hiking spot. The trains are nice, and there are several to choose from. I often take my dog and kiddo along and they love it too!
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BlueBlueSea
I have many fond memories over the years at Gambrill State Park. The trails are well maintained and offer a variety of challenges depending on your skill and fitness level.
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Peach_412
The park has a couple overlooks that are nice with views of Frederick and Myersville/Middletown valleys. I haven't been on many of the trails yet, but enjoyed the ones I have been on - were well marked. Plan to go back many more times! I like the building there that I guess is rentable but I have not yet taken advantage.
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PACrew777
These hiking trails are well maintained and marked. The ranger at the nature center is over informative and kind. The campground is quaint with clean bathrooms and showers. Firewood can be purchased at the camphost site for $5/bundle or $13/for 3. Plenty of kindling around for pickup and rangers drive by frequent enough but not invasive. At night, the campground was quiet and had a great mix of families, couples, solo campers , very dog friendly. Naturalist will enjoy the diverse bird and tree/flower population. Tented at site 34, very level but farthest away from bathroom but still walkable. Downside: by Sunday the bathroom could use a quick sweeping but still nothing terrible.
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noreenj31
I rented one of the mini camper cabins for two nights (Fri and Sat). Very simple set up. Two beds, one bunk, one double. Stayed with my husband and brother as we were in town for a wedding nearby. The sites are clean and so are the bathrooms. When you get there, go to the bathroom area to sign in. The host's site is right next to the bathroom (#28). He will give you the lock combo for the cabin and you can also buy firewood from him. I reserved online, which was very quick and easy. Any cooking is to be done outside of the cabin. They have a fire ring, picnic table and lantern post. It was a nice campground, no hassles from anyone (host, rangers, etc.). Alcohol is prohibited, so if you plan to imbibe, keep it on the downlow and use a Solo cup or other container. I would definitely go back to see more of the park.
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alanbrooks
This park is shared between hikers and Mountain bikers. If you want to hike you might want to go somewhere else if you are bothered by bikes nearly running you over. There is a nice lookout where you have a fairly good view of Ft. Detrick and part of Frederick. There are a nice selection of long and short trails. But some parts of some of the trails run along the side of the road, which does distract from the beauty of the Park. The part is closed at dusk, and it is best to get out of there since sometimes men meet at the lookout for various activities you probably don't want to see, and you definitely won't want your children to see. Catoctin Mountain Park is a much better alternative for hikers.
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travelinsuemaryland
Went to Gambrill to take some fall foliage pictures and it was beautiful! The overlooks are really nice and you can see far off in to the distance.
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857robertk
It's a bit off the beaten path and you have to know how to find this place, but considering that it's only a 5 minute drive from one of the main shopping areas in Frederick, you won't believe how picturesque and scenic the views are and that you'll feel like you are at some mountain retreat!
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2005-travel-lover
There are many places to see in Gambrill and the neighboring Catoctin Mountain Park. The hiking trails connect, the waterfalls at Cunningham are MUST SEE on hot summer days, and the folks you meet up with are always nice.And, it gives you a little more exercise than sitting around watching the clouds!Check out the swimming area at cunningham falls lake and the boat launch off Catoctin Hollow Road.