State Forest – Walton Track Trail Expansion

Starting in March of 2023 we began talks with the MD State Forest Southern Regional Forester to improve the access to the lake from the MD Route 5 State Forest parking lot. From these talks we began plans for a 3 phase approach to first move trails away from privately owned property adjacent to the State lands, and to build a new bridge that would be safer than the one that is in place currently. This first phase would utilize contour trails to improve user experience as well as improving the life and maintenance of the trail itself. This first phase will create approximately 1.6 miles of new trail.

We applied for Recreational Trail Programs (RTP) grants in 2023/2024/2025 and after not being awarded funds to fully machine build the trail we decide to begin work on the trail by hand. In 2024 we received a Dig In grant from IMBA and Shimano. With the donations from our community members totally over $5,000, Shimano added an additional $5,000 as well as a special Social Media campaign bonus and our trail build fun was over $12,000. In 2025 we received another grant from Athletic Brewing Company for their Two for the Trails program and that gave us adequate funds to purchase the lumber needed for the new bridge. In May of 2026 we took delivery of the first portion of threr lumber to build the 16 foot puncheon and also the bridge over the creek.

We have applied for RTP grant again in 2026 with the hopes to machine finish the trail in 2027.

Section 1 is cleared corridor and somewhat improved trail surface and is passable.

Section 2 is through the clear cut and the corridor is open, but the surface is far from ideal at this point.

Section 3 is flagged and some corridor clearing was completed, but it is not passable.

*As of June 2026

---

Beyond Phase 1

Phase 2 would create around 3.2 miles of new trails that could be connected to the Phase 1 trail to make a large loop on the Walton Track property. Additionally a smaller “beginner loop” could be created with a portion of of the Phase 1 trail to make a loop that would be around 1 mile for newer or younger riders.

And Phase 3 would add a final stretch of 2.2 miles of new trails that would link Phase 1 to Phase 2 to allow the closure of the old logging trails from recreation and create a loop of about 7 miles of new trails on the western end of the lake. This loop would still be connected to existing St Mary’s River State Park trails.

---

Other plans in

St Mary’s County

We have begun work on improving and adding trails at Chaptico Park. One new trail, the Fern Trail, is already open as of 2025 and more are completed, awaiting R&P to officially open, and others are planned. The open trails can be found on TrailForks https://www.trailforks.com/region/chaptico-park-72085/