White Blaze Trail

The trailhead offers parking for several cars in a gravel lot with shade available. From the parking lot, the trail heads north into the woods, passing a signboard with information about the area and heading into the woods. This portion of the trail travels through a variety of terrain, with some open meadows mixed in with wooded areas. The is quite grassy, but is mowed periodically to keep the grass length down. After nearly 1/2 mile the trail intersects a dirt road and turns east for a short distance until it reaches a pond. Here the trail splits into the loop portion, with one section of the trail skirting the southern end of the pond to head east and the other turning north. Heading east, the trail travels along a small berm with water channels on either side for a short distance, than turns left to cross one of the channels and head north into the woods. This eastern segment of the loop is generally more difficult than the western portion, with uneven ground and low-lying areas that can be muddy during the wet portion of the year. The trail is well maintained and easy to navigate, with white blazes marking turns and scattered throughout the trail. At the northernmost point of the trail stands an observation tower that people can climb to look out to the north over the marshy areas at the edge of Lake Jessup and beyond to the lake itself. From the tower, the trail turns back west along the edge of the marsh and then south again towards the starting point. This portion of the trail is mostly flat level doubletrack and easy to follow. On reaching the pond again, hikers can retrace their steps to the parking area.