South Mountain Creamery
South Mountain Creamery is a 37-mile paved loop that criss-crosses the Appalachian Trail on quiet, hilly rural roads.
In addition to the visiting the creamery, the route visits Gathland State Park and includes options for camping and affordable lodging. On this trip, we stayed nearby in Brunswick, MD, a nice trail town with the motto “Big Town. Small City.” that is easily accessible by MARC train.
After a short stretch on the C&O (this part is so well manicured it’s smoother than most paved roads in DC) and a few warm-up hills, we crossed the Appalachian Trail at Gathland State Park. We briefly chatted with a few long-distance hikers, took photos at the National War Correspondents Memorial, and descended toward South Mountain Creamery.
At the creamery, we took an extended break to stretch our legs, observe the cows, and share a triple scoop ice cream.
Well fueled for the final 20 miles of the route, we climbed up to Reno Monument and recrossed the Appalachian Trail at Reno Monument, the high point on the route at just over 1,000ft elevation. A series of net downhill climbs/descents brought us back to the C&O Canal, where we cruised into Brunswick to finish our ride.
This is one of the few C&O Canal Byways routes that is suitable for a road bike. As such, it is a good non-technical, beginner-friendly introduction to exploring the mountains adjacent to the canal. Here’s the full route:
