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Poolesville, Md

Updated: 2008-05-05

Search for the Lady Slipper Orchids on Sugarloaf Mountain


Ladyslipper Orchid Hike
Select 2X to view album


Every year in May we look forward to the emergence of the Pink Lady Slipper flowers on the mountain. View our Google Picasa album (preview at right) for the story and pictures.

Pinot Grigio Bottling at Sugarloaf Mountain Winery

After a hike on Sugarloaf Mountain, the winery makes a nice cap at the end of the day. Last March brought the Winery event of the bottling of the Pinot Grigio with a very interesting mobile bottling plant. We took up Jim McKenna's invitation and went to see the Sugarloaf Pinot Grigio bottling for ourselves (pictures and text.) This year the bottling starts on May 5th.

See Wikipedia information about this town in Montgomery County, Maryland, US.

Winter Scene Pictures

Winter snow scenes from February, 2007. The Robins were caught in the snow crusted holly by the camera. Select the Robins picture to see more of what they encountered. No, these are not the same as the English Robin, which is a much smaller bird. The American Robin is a member of the Thrush family, but its bright red breast captured the name from the early colonists. It would be interesting to know how it was named by the local native american tribes, the latin designation "Turdus migratorius" sounds awful. I was surprised to see so many Robins during the snow storm, I had no idea that they had migrated north already. It is wonderful to see them again after their migration to the south. They arrive just in time to draw off the mosquitoes from their human prey, reducing the incidence of West Nile until they depart in late summer, so we owe them quite a debt. (rf Wash Post article, fall 2006).

Robins in snow, select to see more

Robins in Snow

John Poole house/museum in ice storm, December 2002

John Poole House Museum

Official Town site: http://www.ci.poolesville.md.us/

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In the Green Island

Several years ago I ran across the phrase "The Green Island" as a reference to the Montgomery County agricultural reserve in a local publication. I like it and seems to sum up my feelings about this part of the county. Poolesville is a small town about 30 miles northwest of Washington, D.C., surrounded by the agricultural preserve (thus "the green island".) The city of Frederick is almost as close as Rockville. Leesburg, VA is just across the river (if you take the ferry.) The idea behind the reserve is that farmers in the reserve sell their rights to develope their properties to developers.The rights are then applied outside of the reserve for higher density developments where the county infrastructure better supports it.

Interesting events related to the US civil war occurred in and around the town. The town was in the path of the invasion route taken by Southern Troops under General Jubal Early. We have a lot of images of interesting places to hike near the town, pictures of events and happenings in and around the local area. Having galleries of images are pretty boring, so we will slowly be adding new pages with narrative describing them. We plan to start with the coming stories listed in the left column. So come back soon.

 

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Local Interest Points

This is a quick list of some interesting places where we have gone for day hikes and have a number of pictures. For now here is are brief descriptions and links to more information:

The Town of Poolesville itself is at a strategic crossroards adjacent to the Potomac (7 miles to the west) and has an interesting civil war history. Confederate General Jubal Early used the close-by White's Ford as an easy crossing for his Calvary and Troops for his invasion of the North. (It is reported that many of the townsmen joined up with his army as it passed through.) After that incursion the Union stationed close to twenty thousand soldiers in and around Poolesville. For a while it housed a hot air observation balloon unit which kept an eye on the confederate activities across the river. An mistaken strike by a Colonel Baker resulted in a disastrous skirmish known as the "Battle of Ball's Bluff". From that battle, the corpses of the fallen soldiers washed down the Potomac past the city of Washington, resulting in the termination of the career of one General Stone. A succinct summary can be found at: http://www.nvrpa.org/ballsbluffbattle.html and a more extensive guide at: http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/StaffRide/ballsbluff/staff_ride_guide.htm

Sugarloaf Mountain Park (also known as "The Stronghold") has a history with Gordon Strong who founded the privately owned park, now held by the Stronghold trust. This park has had an interesting history, figuring as an observation point in the Civil War, to almost becoming another Frank Loyd Wright edifice in the 1920s, and then being sought by Franklyn Roosevelt for a presidential retreat. Strong fended off Roosevelt, which is why "Camp David" is in Northern Maryland, near the town of Thurmont, Md. The story with Wright is more involved. From the Library of Congress: see the story of Sugarloaf Mountain Park (also known as "The Stronghold") history with Gordon Strong and Frank Lloyd Wright and how it almost became paved over as an "automobile objective" at http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/flw/flw02.html

White's Ferry is a charming way to cross the river. The location is brimming with history: the C&O Canal can still be seen there (waterless and overgrown with trees), the site was known during the Civil War as Conrad's Ferry. It is the last operational ferry on the Potomac.

Blockhouse Point is a local park with Civil War significance. Though it has been logged and is littered with the debris of abandoned cars and water heaters, it is a delightful short walk to one of the best overlooks of the Potomac below Harpers Ferry/Weaverton Cliffs and above Great Falls.

Weaverton Cliffs is the crossing point of the Appalachian trail for the Potomac just below Harpers Ferry. Sandwiched between two major highways, it is a noisy but beautiful overlook that is second only to Harpers.

Harpers Ferry NP offers a historical preservation of the Civil War town and a delightful hiking area providing views of the intersection of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers.

Antietam Battle Field is further to the north, but an excellent guide is: http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/StaffRide/Antietam/Contents.htm

Sugarloaf Mountain Winery is just to the east of the entrance to the park and a nice way to end a day of walking on the Mountain. Cockatoos are welcome!

Catoctin National Park (and Camp David) are much further to the north past Frederick and near Thurmont Md but offer great hiking (Wolf Rock, Chimney Rock.)

More External links about Poolesville