Recently we’ve been hiking more as the weather is perfect here in Maryland. One of our weekend adventures we checked out Kilgore Falls in Rocks State Park. Kilgore Falls is a large waterfall in northeastern Maryland. It has a short and easy one-mile looping trail that uses the waterfall as a turnaround. What I didn’t expect was there is preregistration that is required prior to hiking to the falls between Memorial Day and Labor Day, lesson learned. To preregister, for free, click here. DNR Kilgore Falls Link
Pro-Tip
- Preregister for Kilgore Falls. It’s actually nice for them to have control over the number of people who enter. It keeps it much less crowded during busy times of the year.
After getting turned around by the DNR representative, we ended up checking out the King and Queen Seat in the park and I’ll tell you what we were not let down. Rocks State Park and especially the King and Queen seats are a hidden gem in rural Harford County Maryland. The King and Queen seat are at the summit of a 190-foot tall rock face that overlooks the valleys and peaks of the northern Maryland area. If you’re into rock climbing you have various options from 8-115 feet which are apparently rated at a 4-5.15 difficulty, maybe one day I’ll know what that means but for now…no clue! I can’t speak to the greatness of the climbing, but there were at least 50 rock climbers out. If you’re more like me and want a view, this is for you.
Pro-Tip
- There is a small entry fee to the park and limited hours of operation. Per person prices are $3/ Maryland resident, $5/ out-of-state. Open 9 a.m. to Sunset, March-October and 10 a.m. to Sunset, November-February.
Get to the King and Queen Seat using the trail from Rock Ridge Picnic Area. It was a simple hike that lasted about 5 minutes, I don’t know if that officially counts as a hike. It was not hilly or rocky so it’s perfect for children and those not ready for a heavy-duty hiking experience. Once you get to the final climb which leads you to the King and Queens Seat, it becomes slightly more challenging to get out to the rock face and see the best view. It requires climbing up 4-5 foot rock sections that have good foot and handholds. More like climbing stairs than it was rock climbing. As I was checking the Rocks State Park website, I found a legend that “the King and Queen Seat was a ceremonial gathering place for the Susquehannock Indians.” It mentions that there has been no evidence to support this legend but it became a popular tourist destination in the 1800s because of this.
Pro-Tip
- Rocks State Park is at least 15-30 minutes away from restaurants or fast food. Keep yourself ahead of the hunger sharks and bring snacks.
After we got our excellent view we went and hiked a little of the white trail down the mountain and then came back up using the orange trail that lead us to our car. The overall distance was approximately 2 miles. The downhill here is awesome and the uphill doesn’t suck that much. The weather was a bit warm out so it helped us get heated up for the next part of our adventure.
It’s time to go swimming and tubing, ladies and gentlemen bring your bathing suits and dive on in! We entered Deer Creek around Hills Grove Picnic Area and hung out in the water for about an hour or so. We did a little bit of tubing which is super popular during the summer months and then we just waded in the water to cool off. The water depth ranged from shallow to a few feet deep and the creek looked to be moving at a half knot, a walking pace for most people. There are charcoal grills set up in the picnic area with tables to sit if you want to bring your own lunch.
Pro-Tip
- Bring water shoes. If you plan to get in the creek you’ll thank me. The bottom is visible the whole time and covered in rocks that become uncomfortable.
All in all Rocks State Park was an excellent day trip to spend outdoors hiking, swimming and enjoying the views. I didn’t get to experience everything so I will definitely be heading back and exploring more of this majestic natural resource. Have you been to Rocks State Park? What was your experience?
