Catoctin Mountain Park

Catoctin Mountain Park

Nearly 6,000 acres of thick pine forests, rocky ledges, and magnificent views make Catoctin a true retreat. America's presidents apparently think so, too—Camp David is hidden within the park, although, of course, it is not open to the public. Catoctin also rents rustic cabins built during the era of the federal Works Progress Administration, and there's a dining hall that seats 120 people.

Catoctin's diverse cultural resources provide several vignettes of our nation's history in one small location. Native Americans quarried rhyolite for the production of lithic tools. A charcoal and iron industry is still visible today, along with smaller industries including farms, sawmills, and an old moonshine still. Historic structures and products of the Works Progress Administration and the...