There are two main ways to get the falls. First, you can go to the State Park and do a short .75 mile hike over the hill to see the falls (1.5 miles round trip). The path is not the easiest, but it short so it is not too bad. You can also go to the National Park, and do a longer hike in (2.8 miles round trip).
First, I went into the State Park, and did the .75 mile hike to the falls. The trail is very rocky and "rooty" in spots. It is not very level, and is a rough surface, and there are a couple of spots where you walk up a steep incline. However, with the trail being so short, it is not too bad.
After doing the quick trail to the falls, I went to the Federal Park (Catoctin Mountain Park). As one of the signs at the park will tell you, the two parks used to be one, but the Federal Government gave Maryland the southern part. Here, I did a loop consisting of trails that took me to the Blue Ridge Summit Overlook, Hog Rock, and the falls Nature Trail. There was a over 600 ft in elevation change in the hike (Hog Rock is at 1610 ft, and the Visitor Center is at 920 ft).
The highlight of this hike was seeing a black widow spider. Which had just caught a bee in its web. The spider, seemed to quickly secure the bee in its web. I assume it had injected the bee, and then it retreated a bit further away from the bee, to let its venom worked. Once the bee stopped moving, the spider moved back, finished securing the bee. Cut the web that was holding the bee on the outside, and then carried the bee under a log. See the pictures below.
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| Cunningham Falls | Black Widow Spider - Catoctin Mountain Park |
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