Baltimore: Sugarloaf Mountain Loop
Climb a lone sentinel rising above the rolling Maryland farmland on this short-and-sweet 5.7-mile loop to a mountain oasis in the sky.
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Trail Facts
- Distance: 9.2
Waypoints
SLM001
Location: 39.2606201171875, -77.396858215332
At W end of lot, head out on green-blazed trail via stone steps built for the late Gordon Strong; family still owns land
SLM002
Location: 39.2623596191406, -77.3933868408203
Sugarloaf Mtn.; (1,282 ft.); Once a Civil War signal station, only the quartzite cliffs remain at the summit of this monadnock, where millennia of erosion has stripped away the surrounding land
SLM003
Location: 39.2629890441894, -77.3924026489258
L @ Y; red-blazed Monadnock Trail descends swiftly through red and white oaks
SLM004
Location: 39.2657089233398, -77.392463684082
R @ T onto blue-blazed Northern Peaks Trail; pause at Bill Lambert Overlook to see Sugarloaf’s ridge
SLM005
Location: 39.2659301757812, -77.3903503417969
L @ T; threatened purple-fringed orchids find refuge under maples
SLM006
Location: 39.2675590515137, -77.3900985717774
R @ Y; remain on Northern Peaks Trail along rolling ridgeline
SLM007
Location: 39.2817802429199, -77.3820266723633
Straight @ 4-way where trail intersects with Saddleback Horse Trail
SLM008
Location: 39.2850112915039, -77.3874130249024
Cairn designates unnamed 1,020-foot summit; head SW
SLM009
Location: 39.2835998535156, -77.3984909057617
White Rocks Overlook: Scan patchwork farms under a blue horizon before 300-foot descent into Bear Branch
SLM010
Location: 39.2749900817871, -77.3989028930664
Zigzag .1 mi. R onto Saddleback Trail, then L back onto Northern Peaks Trail. Fragrant yellow poplars bloom trailside
SLM011
Location: 39.2658004760742, -77.3966217041016
R @ T onto blue-blazed trail; in .5 mi., turn L @ T and return to car
