Catoctin Mountain Park — situated right next to Cunningham Falls State Park, is in north-central Maryland and is run by the US National Park Service. Its 5,120 acres overlook the Monocacy Valley. Back in 1935, the area was put under the CCC to be fostered as a public recreational area. Cunningham Falls State Park has striking rock formations, the Big Hunting Creek, and a high tree canopy for many of the 25 miles of trails in the park.
The Visitor’s Center has information about the early European farmers that settled the area, but I thought it was more interesting to learn that before 1600, indigenous Americans were relatively thin on the ground. They used the area around the Monocacy Valley where the park is now for hunting and for quarrying a stone called rhyolite, which made excellent spear points and arrowheads due to the fact that they could be knapped into very sharp points. Until the Europeans arrived, permanent indigenous settlements seem to have been sparse compared to other areas of the continent.
The Visitor’s Center has information about the early European farmers that settled the area, but I thought it was more interesting to learn that before 1600, indigenous Americans were relatively thin on the ground. They used the area around the Monocacy Valley where the park is now for hunting and for quarrying a stone called rhyolite, which made excellent spear points and arrowheads due to the fact that they could be knapped into very sharp points. Until the Europeans arrived, permanent indigenous settlements seem to have been sparse compared to other areas of the continent.
Sources: National Park Service, Catoctin Mountain Park, Maryland, home page and “Catoctin Mountain Park Historic Resource Study,” Chapter one: Settling the Catoctins
