Skip to content
Gathland State Park, Jefferson, MD

Photo: Antony-22, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Sports & Outdoors

Gathland State Park

Day-use state park on South Mountain centered on a stone monument honoring Civil War correspondents.

900 Arnoldstown Road, Jefferson, MD 21755 · Jefferson, MD

About Gathland State Park

Gathland State Park sits on South Mountain in Washington and Frederick Counties, Maryland. Its best-known feature is a large stone monument dedicated to Civil War correspondents, the War Correspondents Memorial Arch. The Appalachian National Scenic Trail crosses the park and passes the base of the monument. The land was once the mountain home of George Alfred Townsend, a Civil War journalist who wrote under the pen name Gath. In the late 1800s he built a distinctive group of structures here, and two of them, the main hall and lodge, were partly restored in the 1950s. The park is run by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

  • #civil-war
  • #hiking
  • #appalachian-trail
  • #south-mountain
  • #day-use

What's around here?

The closest stops to Gathland State Park, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Museums

    South Mountain Heritage Society

    No admission fee

    Volunteer-run museum in a former church that documents the history of the Burkittsville village in western Maryland.

    0.9 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Museums

    Pry House Field Hospital Museum

    Check prices

    Farmhouse near Keedysville, Maryland, that served as a Union headquarters and medical base during the 1862 Battle of Antietam.

    6.3 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Washington Monument State Park

    Check prices

    A hilltop state park on South Mountain whose centerpiece is a stone tower honoring George Washington.

    6.8 mi awayMore like this

  • Attractions
    Family Favorite

    Crystal Grottoes

    Under $25

    Take a guided 40-minute walk through Maryland's only show cave, past white stalactites, draperies and the red-tinted passages called Fairyland.

    6.8 mi awaySwitch it up: Attractions

  • Sports & Outdoors
    Outdoor Adventure

    The Great Bungee Company

    $50+

    Leap off a platform above a flooded quarry at Harpers Ferry, the area's newest adrenaline stop.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    7.4 mi awayMore like this

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Greenbrier State Park

    Under $25

    A Maryland state park on South Mountain with a 42-acre lake, sandy beach, campground, and hiking trails.

    9.2 mi awayMore like this

Near Gathland State Park

More of the same kind

Keep exploring