Montgomery County, MD alone boasts more than 100 miles of hiking trails, 6 of which can be found at the Rachel Carson Conservation Park in the Brookeville/Olney area, north of Silver Spring, MD.
Rachel Carson Conservation Park is located at 22201 Zion Rd just west of Georgia Avenue. It was named after the writer and environmental activist, Rachel Carson, who was also a Montgomery County resident.
The park is undeveloped (no picnic areas and such) but offers natural surface trails on 650 acres which are either dedicated hiking trails or a combination of hiking & equestrian trails.
The only visitor parking area is located off Zion Rd which provides direct access to the Fox Meadow Loop and Rachel Carson Greenway. Both trails pass by a meadow - which is currently undergoing restoration efforts to return it to its natural state - before winding their way through the woods. They also interconnect with a number of other trails, thus offering a variety of hikes.
I am not sure what the official difficulty of the trails are but we found them easily manageable although a bit narrow at times. My girls - 7 & 3 - hiked part of the Rachel Carson Greenway Trail and Fern Valley Trail with us and had no difficulties doing so.
The Rachel Carson Greenway Trail at the Conservation Park is part of a larger project which, when completed, will span 25 miles from Adelphi in Prince George's County through Takoma Park, Silver Spring, Olney and Laytonsville.
According to MontgomeryParks.org the Rachel Carson Conservation Park is "one of the county's premier conservation areas", its undeveloped state "provides opportunities for quiet enjoyment of the natural environment."
It does indeed.
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