Purdum Trail
Use	Multi-use (Hk, Bk, Eq)
North Trailhead	Burnt Hill Road
South Trailhead	Eastern end of Kingsley Trail, near Kingsley Schoolhouse
Distance	1.57 mile
Nearest Parking	Northern trailhead off Burnt Hill Road Kingsley parking lot, 0.7 miles
Summary	Trail extends from northern boundary of Park to Kingsley Trail in the center of it. Shaded hardwood canopy and natural surface in northern half of trail. Southern half of trail is gravel bed surface thru white pine grove and down a steep ridge to the valley.

Narrative Direction: South from Burnt Hill Road Trailhead

Purdum Trail connects the farming country at the edge of the hilly northeast quadrant of the Park with the Kingsley Trail and the Little Bennett valley. Its southern trailhead is at the end of the Kingsley trail near the schoolhouse.

You can reach the northern trailhead of Purdum Trail via Burnt Hill Road. If you are heading north on Burnt Hill Road, turn left down a gravel road about ¼ mile past the Little Bennett creek bridge. Note that after you turn on the gravel road, the property to your right is privately owned so please do not disturb it or trespass there. The photo below shows the entrance to the Burnt Hill parking lot from which to access Purdum Trail.

The Park's Department recently re-routed the northern end of the Purdum trail (see www.friendsoflittlebennett.org/Archive20100527.htm). The northern trailhead is now immediately adjacent to the Burnt Hill parking lot. See the photo below and note the blue trail blaze as a trail sign has not yet been posted.

Once on the trail, the first several hundred yards or so head downhill through tall hardwood canopy. You will be enclosed in this healthy overhead canopy for the first mile or so of your hike.

Soon an underground spring emerges in the little hollow to your left. Gradually the spring widens and several ferns begin to line its bank and the hillside adjacent to it. You can also see some skunk cabbage here. This is one of the most scenic spots along this heavily wooded trail.

After about ¼ mile the trail starts to climb rather steeply as it veers away from the small streambed. Patches of NNI (Vietnamese stiltgrass) are visible here.

On your right a clearing begins to come into view. The hayfield you see is private property so please avoid. The trail will parallel this field for a couple of hundred yards while still under hardwood canopy.

The trail will soon flatten out, and then you will come to a white pole with green stripes on it signaling the Park boundary. From this point on the trail will gradually climb uphill under full canopy for the next several hundred yards. See the photo below.

Eventually you will reach the Browning Run trail head. At this point, Purdum Trail crosses a natural gas pipeline. And a short way after that, you will come to the Loggers trail eastern trailhead on your right. You are now crossing over a ridgeline. A little further to your left (out-of-sight from the trail) the ridgeline declines fairly sharply down to Little Bennett Creek which is flowing north around the ridge you are now on. This unnamed ridge extends to the west all the way to Ballfield Tributary and forms the northern flank of Little Bennett valley.

Though hidden from view by a maturing hardwood and pine forest, Purdum Trail straddles the edge of this ridge as it descends the next ½ mile or so to Little Bennett Creek. The widely-spaced waterbars you will soon encounter on the trail signal this decline. At this point in the trail, you will start to see a "light at the end of the tunnel" as you leave full forest canopy for the more open spaces of the Group Campground which you are now approaching. See the photo below.

The Group Campground has space for up to 100 campers. It includes fire rings, porta-johns, and limited vehicular access. It is usually occupied on warm weather weekends. Reservations are required. For information, call 301-972-9222.

As you leave the campground area, the natural surface trail is replaced by a gravel-bed one. This surface enables vehicles to reach the campground area.

For the first 100 yards or so the trail is flanked on both sides by white pines reaching 50-60 feet in height. It is the largest concentration of these trees (which are more native in Western Maryland) along the trails in the Park. See the photo below.

Soon the trail begins to decline sharply down the ridge. This is one of the steepest trail segments in the Park. To avoid washouts, this part of the trail is hard-surface for a hundred yards or so down the side of the ridge. See the photo below.

Equestrians and others encountering this stretch of the trail can also take a more scenic natural surface trail that roughly parallels the hard-surface one down the hill.

Both sections rejoin at the bottom of the hill just before the trail ends when it intersects Kingsley Trail in the valley basin.

In front of you, on the other side of Little Bennett Creek, is the Kingsley Schoolhouse as shown in the photo below. A bridge enables you to reach it. And picnic tables allow you to enjoy the shaded and scenic spot right next to the creek.