Washington Monument State Park

In the summer of 1827, the people of Boonsboro set out to honor George Washington with a monument on the mountain above their town. By local tradition, hundreds of townsfolk marched up South Mountain and, in a burst of communal effort, raised much of the rugged stone tower in a single day, returning later to finish the work. It stands as the first monument to Washington to be completed anywhere.

The tower has weathered a hard life, falling into ruin, being damaged by storms and lightning, and being rebuilt more than once. Its most thorough restoration came in the 1930s at the hands of the Civilian Conservation Corps, who rebuilt it into the sturdy stone cylinder that stands today. That it was raised by ordinary citizens, not commissioned by a government, gives it a homespun dignity the grander monuments lack.

A short trail climbs from the park's picnic area through the woods to the tower on the summit of South Mountain. Inside, a stairway leads to an open viewing platform, and from the top the country spreads out in every direction, the patchwork farmland of the Middletown Valley to the east and the ridges of the Appalachians rolling away to the west.

The tower sits directly on the Appalachian Trail, the great footpath that runs the spine of the eastern mountains from Georgia to Maine, and thru-hikers pass by all season. The high, open crest also makes the park a noted spot for watching the autumn hawk migration, when raptors ride the ridge winds south in great numbers along the mountain.

This ridge was a battleground. In September of 1862, as Confederate and Union armies maneuvered through western Maryland, they clashed here in the Battle of South Mountain, fighting for control of the mountain gaps in the days just before the terrible Battle of Antietam a few miles to the west. The high ground around the monument saw part of that struggle.

The park and the surrounding South Mountain State Battlefield preserve and interpret that history, with markers and trails tracing the fight through the gaps. Standing at the tower, with its founding-era tribute to Washington and the Civil War ground all around, brings two chapters of the nation's story together on a single mountain crest.

The forested ridge is classic Appalachian hardwood country, oak and hickory and maple, alive with deer, wild turkey, songbirds, and the passing raptors of the autumn flights. Spring greens the mountain and brings wildflowers to the trail, summer keeps the ridge a few degrees cooler than the valleys, and fall lights the slopes in color and draws the hawk-watchers.

Below the mountain lie the orchards and farms of the Middletown and Frederick valleys, and a short drive brings you to the deep Civil War history of Antietam and the walkable old town of Frederick. The park makes an easy, rewarding stop, a bit of history and a fine view on the western edge of Maryland's ridge country.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.