Last weekend, my husband and I went to Harpers Ferry, WV for the first time. It was a beautiful autumn day and we were looking forward to hiking and enjoying nature for a few hours. Harpers Ferry is located at the intersection of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers and is well known for John Brown’s raid on the armory during the Civil War. We decided to go on the popular Maryland Heights trail. We arrived in Harpers Ferry around 1:00 pm and parked in the main parking lot and took the shuttle down to historic Harpers Ferry. There was a $10 admission for a single vehicle. We walked through part of the town and crossed the footbridge, turned left and walked along the canal before crossing another footbridge to the beginning of the trailhead. As we walked across the main footbridge, we could see the old stone piers that contained a railroad and bridge. John Brown crossed this bridge for his famous raid in 1859.
John Brown’s Fort
Footbridge
Maryland Heights is made up of 3 trails: the Combined Trail, the Stone Fort Trail and the Overlook Trail. From the trailhead, we hiked along the Combined Trail passing the Naval Battery from 1862. Most people go directly to the Overlook Trail from the Combined Trail to the popular overlook over Harper’s Ferry, but we decided to first hike the Stone Fort Trail and then going to the Overlook Trail. The Stone Overlook Trail involved a steep uphill climb as we approached walls of the Stone Fort. There are some lovely views from the summit at the Stone Fort. Descending down from the Stone Fort, we passed the 100 Pounder Battery and 300 Pounder Battery.
Interior wall of the Stone Fort
View from from Stone Fort summit
As we walked down a pretty steep trail, we turned right and went on the Overlook Trail down to the popular cliffs to enjoy a beautiful view of Harpers Ferry where the Potomac River joins the Shenandoah River. Then we started hiking back down to the trailhead and went back across the footbridge to the town. The hike took about 4 hours including several stops to enjoy the view. Without stopping, the hike probably would’ve taken 3 hours. As a treat, we stopped by Scoops Ice Cream (173 Potomac Street, Harpers Ferry, WV). where I had a delicious pumpkin shake and my husband had a hot chocolate. Then we went back to the parking lot via the shuttle. I wish we could have explored the town a little more, but it was getting late and we needed to start heading home.
View of Harpers Ferry from the cliff
Scoops Ice Cream
Pumpkin Shake from Scoops Ice Cream
It was the perfect way to spend a beautiful autumn day!
The Adventurous Wife 