Address: 14920 Schaeffer Rd, Germantown, MD 20874 (If you use Google Maps, you can also enter Schaeffer Farms Trailhead, which will take you right to the parking lot. Look for our Explorer signs, as you will turn at the point where Schaeffer Rd. makes a sharp right bend. Follow the gravel road that starts at the sign, Schaeffer Farm Trails Area, to the parking lot. If the lot is full, you can park along the shoulder of the gravel road where trailer parking is allowed.)
Amenities: There is a gender-neutral compost toilet in the parking lot (no running water).
Maximum Miles: 3.9 miles
Surface: Natural, mostly wooded with rocks, roots, stream crossing & bridges. This is a more strenuous hike with several descents and ascents; as such, some Explorers might consider it more challenging. Hiking shoes are recommended, and trekking poles can be useful for the elevation changes if you prefer. Note the width of the trails varies as well so we will be walking single file in spots and watching out for mountain bikers. As such, our overall pace on this hike might be slower than usual.
Description: This location is part of the Maryland Park Service, Seneca Creek State Park system. It has an extensive system of trails that are popular with mountain bikers but used by hikers too. It is maintained by MORE (Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts). Although the trail network is significantly less busy on Monday mornings, we will need to be on the lookout for bikers and give them the right-of-way. All the trails are color-coded and signage is extensive, in addition to trail names and direction arrows, you will find Location Indicators at the intersection of trails, which comes in handy for not getting lost. There are also blazes on trees along the trails. Though the signage is great, this is a location where relying on the leader is advised.
We have fashioned a loop of about 4.0 miles for this hike from sections of the White, Yellow, Green, and Orange trails. It is a mostly shaded wooded natural trail area bounded by corn fields in spots, with some roots, rocks, and hard-packed dirt and several changes in elevation. Although Explorers can do shorter versions mentioned below, there are hardly any options that entirely avoid elevation changes. For the full route, we will encounter two creek crossings with the first being a simple step over and the second with stone pavers to assist your crossing.
We will enter at the trailhead at the far end of the parking lot. This is the White Loop Trail, and we will go right at location SH-1. After 0.2 miles, we will bear right onto the Yellow Trail at location SH-8. The trail meanders downhill and crosses our first bridge at 0.81 miles, after which there is our first significant climb back up the trail to a clearing with a corn field on the right. At the intersection with the Blue trail at location SH-9 at 0.93 miles, we will bear left to stay on the Yellow Trail. For those that want a 2-mile walk, this is the place to turn around and retrace your route as the next potential place to return to the parking lot does not come until 1.77 miles. For the rest of us, we will stay on the Yellow trail for about 0.60 miles to the intersection with the Green trail at location SH-10. We will turn left onto the Green trail and take it to the intersection with the White loop trail at location SH-6. You can go either direction at this intersection – we will turn left. This is approximately at the 1.77-mile mark of today’s route, with over two miles left to go. For those who prefer to go more directly back to the parking lot, you can stay on the White trail following the signs for “Parking” – this will take about one more mile for a total of 2.8 miles. For the rest of us, after hiking about 0.40 miles on the White trail (including our first very shallow stream crossing at 1.84 miles), we will take a dramatic right turn onto the Orange trail at location SH-7.
Note that the Orange trail is one of the more prominent adventure mountain bike trails at Schaeffer Farms and goes up and down through the beautiful woods for about 0.64 miles. Shortly before the next trail intersection at location SH-2, we encounter our second stream crossing, easily navigated with pavers. At SH-2, we will turn left to rejoin the White Trail on the opposite side, following the sign toward “Parking” (NOT toward the right which goes back south on the other half of the orange trail). We will follow the White trail for another 1.12 miles, returning to our starting point at the trailhead and the parking lot. In the process, we will cross over three more bridges, with 0.40 miles of our route coming after the last bridge crossing.
