School groups find this trail an excellent path for environmental study. A very informative trail brochure accompanies Brown's Farm Trail, which begins from the Owens Creek Picnic Area. It is an easy half-mile loop that passes through wetlands, a pine grove, turn of the century farmstead, an eastern hardwood forest, and back across a mountain stream.

Long ago American Indians roamed this mountain where white-tailed deer were plentiful. Settlers eventually brought changes to the mountain, clearing land for farms such as Brown's Farm. By the early 1930s, clear-cutting trees for farming and the Catoctin Iron Furnace left much of the mountain bare and no longer suitable for farming or hospitable to wildlife. The federal government purchased the land in 1936 creating a natural and recreational area.

Directions: From Thurmont, MD, Travel to Owens Creek Picnic Area. Take MD State Route 77 west approximately 3.5 miles turning right onto Park Central Road. Travel Park Central Road several miles until it dead ends at Foxville-Deerfield Road. Turn right to reach Owens Creek Picnic Area. Signage is excellent.

Elevation: 1,300 feet

Distance: 0.4 miles

Usage: Heavy

Difficulty: Easy

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