Peak foliage timing and the wildlife of this cool mountain forest.
If you can time your visit, come in October. Up here in the high mountains of western Maryland, autumn arrives early and hits hard: the maples go scarlet, the birches and beeches turn butter-yellow, and all that fire gets mirrored in the black water and set against the deep, unchanging green of the old hemlocks and pines. It is, flat out, one of the most beautiful places in the state in fall.
And it's alive year-round. This cool, damp gorge is home to black bear, white-tailed deer, and all manner of salamanders and songbirds; the river holds trout; and the old forest shelters owls and woodpeckers and, if you're lucky and quiet, more. Walk softly, keep your voice down and your eyes open, and this ancient wood will let you in on a few of its secrets.
Photo: Nicolas Raymond from Bethesda, Maryland, USA · CC BY 2.0
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