SHORT DESCRIPTION OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY PARKS "EPIC" ROUTE:

- Leave Schaeffer Farm and go straight across Schaeffer Road to pick up the Hoyles Mill Connector trail.

- Turn left at the paved bike path. 150 yards after the driving range, look for a trail marker and turn left toward the woods.

- Follow the trail to Hoyles Mill Road and turn left.

- Just before the intersection with White Ground road (where Hoyles Mill Road ends), look for a trail marker on the right and turn right onto the singletrack trail toward the woods.

- Continue on the marked trail until you reach the intersection of Clopper Road, White Ground Road and Clarksburg Road.

- Go straight under the railroad bridge onto Clarksburg Road. Continue straight, crossing a bridge over Little Seneca Lake. 150 yards after the bridge, look for a trail marker on the right and turn right toward the woods.

- When you reach a small parking lot, bear right thru the lot and ride along Clarksburg Road for 50 yards to pick up the trail again. Follow the winding trail thru the open field and back into the woods.

- When the trail hits a crushed gravel road, turn right. Follow the gravel road until it becomes paved and then goes downhill toward the boat ramp parking lot.

- Slow down at the bottom of the hill and turn hard left onto a grassy uphill, just before the gravel parking lot on the left. Stay right at the top of the hill to follow the Cabin Branch Trail in Black Hill Regional Park.

- At the bottom of the hill, cross a small creek, then turn right onto the singletrack trail into the woods.

- Follow the trail until it merges with the Hamilton Trail. Turn left onto Hamilton, then turn right at the end of the trail. This leads you up to the park road (Lake Ridge Drive), where you will left, then dead end into West Old Baltimore Road.

- Black Hill Trail Map: http://www.montgomeryparks.org/PPSD/...hills2copy.pdf

- Turn right onto West Old Baltimore Road. Cross under I-270, then take the first left onto Comsat Drive. Take the first left, which will take you thru a parking lot. Stay left thru the lot and continue... you are now on Shawnee Lane.

- Take the first left onto Gateway Center Drive, then continue to the intersection with Clarksburg Road and turn right.

- As you cross Route 355, Clarksburg Road becomes Stringtown Road. Cross over Stringtown Road to get on the bike path.

- Take the first left onto Overlook Park Drive (an unmarked, unsigned gravel construction road).

- Go right at the first "intersection" onto Clarksburg Square Road (an unmarked, unsigned gravel construction road).

- Continue to Burnt Hill Road and turn left. Go past a school on your left, then cross over Piedmont Road.

- Continue to the bottom of a long hill, where you will see Kingsley Road to the right and a gravel parking lot to the left.

- From the gravel parking lot, pick up the Froggy Hollow Trail in Little Bennett Regional Park.

- At the footbridge, go right across the creek, then stay right to pick up the Purdum Trail (steep and semi-paved).

- Little Bennett Map: http://www.montgomeryparks.org/PPSD/...ett_trails.pdf

- At the end of the Purdum trail, turn right onto a wide gravel road, which will soon intersect with Burnt Hill Road.

- Turn right on Burnt Hill Road.

- Turn left on Kingstead Road.

- Turn right on Kings Valley Road.

- Continue until you reach the intersection with Route 27 (Ridge Road). Cross over Route 27 and continue until you see Damascus Recreational Park on the left. Turn left into the main park entrance.

- As the park road bends left, there will be a bike path running along the right side of the road.

- If you need water, turn right on the bike path and follow it past the tennis courts to another parking lot. Stay left thru the lot and there will be a baseball field ahead of you. Near the bleachers along the third base line is a water fountain/spigot.

- If you do not need water, go left on the bike path and follow it until it heads downhill into the woods. Near the bottom of the hill and just past a park bench on the left, you will see a trail marker and make a right hand turn onto a single track dirt trail.

- Follow the blue blazes all the way to Route 355 (around 10 miles). Along the way you will cross over Log House Road, Watkins Road, Huntmaster Road, Brink Road, and Watkins Mill Road. If you want a more detailed description of this section, check out: http://senecacreektrailrace.com/coursedescription.htm

- At the Route 355 parking lot, turn left onto Route 355 (Frederick Road) and cross over the creek. At the first intersection, turn right onto Game Preserve Road. Follow Game Preserve Road as it goes under I-270, then goes under a railroad bridge. When Game Preserve Road ends at Clopper Road, turn right, then take the first left into Seneca Creek State park.

- Continue along the park road, go past the guard/gate house, then take the first right onto Scene Creek Road.

- Continue until the second possible right turn, and at the far right corner of the road intersection, pick up Long Draught Trail.

- Continue on Long Draught Trail, until it dumps you onto a gravel road that will lead out to Riffleford Road.

- Turn right onto Riffleford Road and take it to Route 118.

- Turn left onto Route 118, then take the first right onto Germantown Park Drive. Continue to the traffic circle, then turn left onto Schaeffer Road and follow back to Schaeffer Farm.

- You can either end your ride at the Schaeffer parking lot…or if you still have any energy left and you want to complete the "full" MoCo Epic ride, head into Schaeffer and ride either the white loop, yellow loop, or both!