Mid-Atlantic News

We're heading out for a wildflower hike at Prince William Forest Park on Saturday, April 19, the first day of National Park Week and we're going to show some love for our National Park Service employees while we're at it.

Please think of ways we can show our appreciation to our hard working Prince William Forest Park Rangers and other park employees. Maybe some home baked goodies? Chocolate? Popcorn? A handwritten thank you note? A song or a poem? Flowers? Brainstorm away!

Our spring wildflower hikes are a beloved tradition with Women Outdoors Mid-Atlantic and we are in great hopes of seeing many of these little beauties at Prince William Forest Park, one of Northern Virginia's best kept secrets.

Plan on a moderate hike of about six miles. We'll trek through the woods and along a stream in search of Virginia bluebells and other spring wildflowers. We'll find a spot along the way for a picnic lunch. Sorry, no doggies on this hike.

NOTE: Prince William Forest Park usually charges a $20/vehicle entry fee, but the fee will be waived on Saturday, April 19 in celebration of the first day of National Park Week.

This activity is open to members and non-members of Women Outdoors. Non-members are welcome to attend two WO events as guests. On your third event, we'll ask you to join the Mid-Atlantic Region of Women Outdoors. You can also join right now by clicking on this Join Us link.

Click on this link for more information and to register for the Spring Wildflower Hike on Saturday, April 19, 2025.

Registration will close at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, April 18, 2025.

Yay, camping!

We're heading to Codorus State Park in Hanover, PA on May 16-18, 2025, for a weekend of outdoor adventure including hiking and boating.

We camped at Codorus in 2023 and loved it so much we're heading back.

We have lots of options for outdoor fun! There are several hiking trails in the park as well as a designated mountain bike trail area and a disc golf course. In addition, Codorus State Park is home to Lake Marburg, a popular fishing and boating destination with 26 miles of shoreline.

You can bring your own boat or rent from AOS Marina on the lakeshore. In addition to kayaks and canoes, small fishing boats and large pontoon boats are available to rent. We rented a pontoon boat in 2023 and had a blast!

Doggies are welcome to come on this camping trip. You must reserve one of the designated pet friendly campsites in loops B or C for you and your doggie.

The camping cost is $24/night (non-electric), $31/night (electric), $26/night (pet site, non-electric), $33 (pet site, electric), $45-47 full hook-up plus a $6.50 reservation fee, plus $5 more per night for non-Pennsylvania residents.

This overnight event is for Women Outdoors members only. If you would like to come on the camping trip and are not yet a member, please click on this Join Us link to become a member of Women Outdoors. Once you've joined Women Outdoors you'll be able to register for the camping trip.

It's a three-step process to register for this camping trip:

1) Register with Women Outdoors first by clicking on this link. As soon as you complete your Women Outdoors registration, you will receive an automatic email with the exact location where the trip leaders and others will be camping.

2) Reserve your campsite at Codorus State Park through Reserve America or Pennsylvania State Parks. (See the campground map.)

3) Once you have a campsite reserved, please send an email to MidAtlantic@womenoutdoors.org and Becky@womenoutdoors.org to let us know which site you have.

Everyone must agree to the Women Outdoors Assumption of Risk statement during the registration process.

We'll explore some little known Civil War history as we walk along a couple of the trails at Monocacy National Battlefield in Frederick, MD, on Saturday, December 7, 2024.

Known as the Battle that saved Washington D.C., the Battle of Monocacy on July 9, 1864, delayed Confederate forces sent to capture the Nation's Capital and ultimately forced them to withdraw to Virginia.

Monocacy National Battlefield encompasses over 1600 acres and offers plenty of opportunities for birding. Habitats include forest, open grasslands, and freshwater creeks and ponds. We'll walk about 3.5 miles through woods and fields and along a stretch of the Monocacy River. The terrain is mostly flat with some gentle elevation gain.

We'll have a picnic lunch after the walk and then if folks are interested, we can drive a few miles to downtown Frederick in search of hot chocolate or ice cream.

Doggies are welcome to join us on this walk. Park regulations stipulate that pets must be leashed at all times and owners must pack out their pet's waste (Monocacy National Battlefield is a trash-free park).

This activity is open to members and non-members of Women Outdoors. Non-members are welcome to attend two WO events as guests. On your third event, we'll ask you to join the Mid-Atlantic Region of Women Outdoors. You can also join right now by clicking on this Join Us link.

Click on this link to register. Registration will close on Thursday, December 5th.

We're exploring new territory with our first ever Women Outdoors Mid-Atlantic hike to Chimney Rocks at Michaux State Forest near Waynesboro, PA on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024.

Located at the northern terminus of the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains, Michaux State Forest features an abundance of oak species including chestnut oak, scarlet oak, northern red oak, black oak and white oak. Other trees include red maple, black birch, black gum, hickory, pine and tuliptree (yellow poplar).

We'll hike northbound on the Appalachian Trail for a good portion of this "balloon" hike passing by the Tumbling Run AT shelter along the way.

This 5-mile hike is very strenuous on the way up. While the first mile (the balloon string) is flat, the balloon part of the trail then transitions to a steep climb with lots of roots and rocks and an elevation gain of 1000' over two miles. The reward will be the gorgeous view at Chimney Rocks where we'll have a brown bag lunch overlooking the valley.

Coming back down from the rocks after lunch, we'll take an easier route along an old fire road before rejoining the string of the balloon for the last mile.

Sorry, no doggies on this hike.

This activity is open to members and non-members of Women Outdoors. Non-members are welcome to attend two WO events as guests. On your third event, we'll ask you to join the Mid-Atlantic Region of Women Outdoors. You can also join right now by clicking on this Join Us link.

Registration will close on Thursday, November 7th.

Click on this link to register for the Chimney Rocks Hike.

Pickleball in the Park - Third time's the charm!

Pickleball in the Park got rained out on the original date and on the rain date do-over so we're trying again for Wednesday, October 9, 2024. Everyone will need to register again for Pickleball in the Park - Third time's the charm.

We're trying something a little different from our usual outdoor adventure repertoire, namely pickleball!

Are you a first-time player? Great! We'll offer a mini clinic to introduce you to pickleball. We'll also have extra paddles and balls to share if you need them. Check out this YouTube video for a quick intro to pickleball.

Already a pickleball player? Wonderful! We'll also have structured play with  round robin games where players will team up with different partners for most games. After each game we'll rotate and change partners. If there are players waiting to play, we'll play two games and then rotate new players in and rotate off others to rest.

After we finish playing, we'll have a picnic lunch right there at the park.

This free activity is open to members and non-members of Women Outdoors. Non-members are welcome to attend two WO events as guests. On your third event, we'll ask you to join the Mid-Atlantic Region of Women Outdoors. You can also join right now by clicking on this Join Us link.

Registration is limited to 20 participants and will close on Monday, October 7, 2024, or when full, whichever comes first. A wait list will open up once we reach 20 participants.

Click on this link to register for Pickleball in the Park.

Women Outdoors members voted for Kathleen Long, one of the co-regional contacts for the Mid-Atlantic Region, to receive the 2024 Jan Brown Memorial Scholarship Award. Presented at the 2024 Annual National Gathering, the award memorializes one of the Founding Mothers of Women Outdoors, our beloved Jan Brown.

Jan was an historian and office manager whose contributions to Women Outdoors were vast: Jan tracked our organization's history and publications as well as kept a comprehensive annotated bibliography of books  written by and about women's voyages and adventures.

As a world traveler who visited far-flung lands, Jan regaled us all with her marvelous photos and stories. In 2019, our 40th year, Women Outdoors established the Jan Brown Memorial Scholarship Award to pay tribute to Jan's countless contributions and her inspiring life.

NOTE: The complete bibliography (169 pp) and the condensed version (40 pp) as well as an index (4 pp) to both bibliographies are available as PDFs to members of Women Outdoors. Login to your account and navigate to Resources and then click on Members Only from the drop-down menu.

Kathleen Long  Presented September 7, 2024

Awarded in honor of Kathleen's numerous contributions to Women Outdoors. In addition to serving on the board, Kathleen helped to develop our current website during its infancy, supporting the creation of the overall design and functionality, as well as organizing our files and creating our Women Outdoors Policy Handbook. To this day Kathleen continues to support our online presence, monitoring our Info@WomenOutdoors.org email.

In 2009, Kathleen started a new region, Mid-Atlantic, serving as Regional Contact. Working with her Co-RC Becky Foreman, they actively promote our organization, expanding the Mid-Atlantic Region by over 150% in the last 2 years alone.

Women Outdoors would not be where it is today without the invaluable contributions of Kathleen Long!

Machu Picchu, Galapagos Islands, Ecuadorian Amazon Jungle

Bucket list trip alert! Have you ever wanted to go on the trip of a lifetime? Well, Women Outdoors is planning an breathtaking adventure for June-July 2025 to Macchu Picchu, the Galapagos Islands and the Ecuadorian Amazon. Our very own Becky, one of the regional contacts for the Mid-Atlantic Region, is planning this amazing adventure.

You can choose to go on one, two or all three adventures. The exact dates have not yet been set, but we'll travel between late June and mid-July 2025.

Here's the trip in a nutshell:

Machu Picchu - Late June 2025. Walking tour of Cusco. Sacred Valley tour by van to Ollantaytambo. Tour Ollantaytambo ruins. Guided tour of Machu Picchu. Pachamanca feast in home of Qechua farmer.

Galapagos Islands - Immediately after Machu Picchu. Optional tours to chocolate farm and coffee plantation. Van tour of Highland Tortoise Reserve and lunch on a farm on the way to the village of Puerta Ayora. Speed boat to Isabela Island/Puerto Villamil and then boat to Tintoreras Islet for snorkeling. "Tunnels" day boat trip and snorkeling in underwater lava formations. Service project on a coffee farm. Speed boat transfer to Santa Cruz Island for dinner hosted by fisherman and family.

Ecuador Amazon Cruise - After the Galapagos Islands, probably early July 2025. This adventure begins in Quito and after a short flight to Coca, we'll board a motorized canoe for a short journey down the river before reaching the Manatee Amazon Explorer for our welcome aboard. A local naturalist guide will give an introduction to the Ecuadorian Amazon. Some of our activities will be a nighttime forest walk, canoe trip on the Panayacu River delta, nature walks with local naturalist guides, kayaking and swimming in Piranha Lake (not as dangerous as it sounds!).

We're working with Adios Adventure Travel to plan this awe-inspiring adventure. Adios Adventure Travel helped facilitate the Women Outdoors trip to Machu Picchu in 2022 and we loved it so much we asked them to help us out again.

Right now, we're just looking to see how many Women Outdoors members would be interested in joining us on this incredible adventure.

Click here for a detailed description of each segment of the trip and to register your interest.

There is no commitment to attend at this point; we just want to see how much interest is out there. You do not need to be a member of Women Outdoors to let us know of your interest in this trip at this time.

If you want to come, check your passport's expiration date. It must be valid until at least January 2026.

Our South America Adventure 2025 is open to only members of Women Outdoors. You can join right now by clicking on Join Us.

Women Outdoors Mid-Atlantic listserv!

The Mid-Atlantic region of Women Outdoors has recently rolled out an exciting new benefit for our members: our very own Women Outdoors Mid-Atlantic listserv or email group.

The listserv will be another way to connect with WO members outside of our "official" monthly Mid-Atlantic activities. It's a way for WO members to organize spontaneous outdoor adventures with other members; share tidbits about upcoming events that may be of interest such as an outdoor concert; recommend books or movies about the outdoors; you get the drift.

For example, let's say the weather forecast for tomorrow is absolutely beautiful and you want to go on a hike at Sugarloaf Mountain and you'd like some of your WO Mid-Atlantic buds to join you. You would post an email on the listserv letting the other Mid-Atlantic members know your plans. You could ask folks to let you know if they can come or you could just post the time and place to meet and be surprised in the moment.

Just to reiterate, any activities that are organized through the Women Outdoors Mid-Atlantic listserv are not official Women Outdoors events. However, they are an opportunity for WO members to get together outside of our monthly "official" Mid-Atlantic Region activities.

How does it work?

We are using Groups.io for our email group. Participation is strictly voluntary. Mid-Atlantic members will need to opt-in to be a member of the email group. Once you join the Mid-Atlantic region, you will receive an invitation to join our listserv, WomenOutdoorsMid-Atlantic, from Groups.io. You will need to respond to that email within two weeks to register for the listserv.

How much does it cost?

It's FREE!

See you in the outdoors!

It's almost time for one of our perennial favorites: our Dog Days of August Hike on Saturday, August 17, 2024.

We’ll do a 3-4 mile suburban hike in Silver Spring, MD, with lots of shade. It's an easy up and down trail, however there is some uneven ground and it could potentially be a bit muddy. We will most likely walk for about an hour out and an hour back.

This is a very popular location for people to walk their dogs. We've heard from reliable sources that folks in the neighborhood do not appreciate dogs off leash on the Northwest Branch Trail. So to be respectful of our neighbors, doggies will need to be on leash at all times during this hike.

After our walk in the woods we’ll have a backyard picnic nearby.

This activity is open to members and non-members of Women Outdoors. Non-members are welcome to attend two WO events as guests. On your third event, we'll ask you to join the Mid-Atlantic Region of Women Outdoors. You can also join right now by clicking on this Join Us link.

Registration is limited to 20 participants and will close on Thursday, August 15th or when full, whichever comes first. A wait list will open up once we reach 20 participants.

Click on this link for more information and to register.

Did you know there is a forested oasis that's part of the National Park system just ten miles from DC? Many don't know about this hidden gem in our own backyard: Greenbelt Park. That's right - it's a national park! Complete with campground, several picnic areas, two nature trails, a fitness trail and nearly ten miles of hiking trails altogether. 

Join us on Saturday, June 1, 2024, for a 4–5-mile hike of the park's Perimeter Trail. The entire trail is 5.3 miles, but we can shortcut that by about a mile if the group decides to do so. The trail is gently rolling and entirely in the trees, so plenty of shade to cool us as we hike. Bring a brown bag lunch to enjoy at one of the picnic areas along the way. 

Our hike with a stop for lunch will take about 3 hours. You may want hiking poles for this one, though it's certainly doable without them. There will be a bathroom at our start and several more along the way, including at our lunch stop.

If you'd rather bike than hike, the park roads are a favorite for local bicyclists. Bring your bike and helmet, ride to your heart's content and then join us at the picnic area for lunch (you'll know when we're there when you ride by).

Doggies allowed on this hike but must be leashed. On Saturdays, there are quite a few walkers with their dogs on the trail - all leashed.

Click on this link to register. Registration closes on Thursday, May 30th.

If you need to cancel after May 30th, please send an email to MidAtlantic@womenoutdoors.org or Becky@womenoutdoors.org.

ONE MORE NOTE: Hike leader, Becky, will be camped in Loop B in the Greenbelt campground from May 30th to June 3rd. Anyone who would like to join her is welcome to reserve her own campsite. Send Becky an email if you'd like to know her exact site to get your own nearby. Campsites (no hookups) are only $20/night, $10/night with a National Park pass. Make a reservation here:  https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232474

FYI - The camping part is not an official Women Outdoors event.

Entry to Greenbelt Park for day use is free.

This free activity is open to members and non-members of Women Outdoors. Non-members are welcome to attend two WO events as guests. On your third event, we'll ask you to join the Mid-Atlantic Region of Women Outdoors. You can also join right now by clicking on this Join Us link.