Underground Railroad Experience Trail
Volunteers | Self-Guided Tours
The Underground Railroad Experience Trail hikes commemorate the involvement of Montgomery County residents in the Underground Railroad and celebrates the Quaker heritage and traditions of Sandy Spring. Guided hikes of the Underground Railroad Experience Trail are offered each Saturday morning at 10am, April through November 6. Please check the parks event calendar for additional information
Hiking reminders: Reservations are not required, and the interpretation is appropriate for children ages 8 and up. Only therapy animals are allowed to accompany their owners on the guided hikes, no other animals are permitted during the guided hikes. The Underground Railroad Experience Trail guided hikes are conducted during rain or shine, so please dress accordingly.- Google map
The Underground Railroad Experience Trail is part of the National Park Service National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom program.
Woodlawn Stone Barn Visitor Center Project
Montgomery Parks is currently working to convert the historic Woodlawn Stone Barn into a visitor center. For more information, visit the Woodlawn Stone Barn Visitor Center project web page. We need your input on the futureo of this project. Please review the project background information and then give us your opinion by taking our Online Survey. Once you complete the survey, your name will be entered into a drawing to win a $100 Visa Gift Card!
Volunteers
Step back in time and become an Underground Railroad conductor!
Volunteer to be a trail guide for the Underground Railroad Experience Trail in Sandy Spring, Maryland! The Underground Railroad Experience Trail hikes commemorate the involvement of Montgomery County residents in the Underground Railroad and celebrate the Quaker heritage and traditions of Sandy Spring. Training session includes a guided hike on the trail. Dress for inclement weather.
Volunteers must be 16 years of age or older, and be able to commit to six Saturdays (or weekdays) per the season through November 6. Volunteers are especially needed to provide tours during the week for school groups. SSL hours are eligible. For more information when the next training session will be conducted, contact 301-650-4373.
Self-Guided Tours
This 2.0 mile trail is natural surface and includes interpretive sign markers keyed to the trail map that may be downloaded from this site. Trail stops include Woodlawn Manor and Barn and the Sandy Spring itself. One half-mile north of the spring is a 300 year-old Champion White Ash tree. - trail map.
The time is the 1850s. The Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, have helped make Sandy Spring a prosperous farming and commercial center. The Friends Meeting House, built in 1817, is the center of religious and community life. Even though slavery will not be abolished in Maryland until 1864, Maryland Quakers outlawed the owning of slaves by its members in 1777. In Sandy Spring, free blacks own their own homes and have organized churches, schools, and an array of social clubs although such public gatherings are extremely dangerous in this anti-abolitionist county.
Local patrols and slave catchers stalk the fields and woods. Quakers and free blacks assist escaping slaves via the secret “Underground Railroad”— a system of people and places organized to help slaves escape to freedom. Now you must travel through woods and skirt the edges of farm fields to safely reach the Sandy Spring itself. Can you do it? - Google map
Last updated: August 25, 2010
Montgomery County Department of Parks
9500 Brunett Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20901
www.montgomeryparks.org
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