Thomas Farm Loop Trail at Monocacy National Battlefield

Length:  1.8-mile loop
Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy

The Thomas Farm Loop Trail begins at the Thomas Farm stop on the Monocacy National Battlefield Tour. You can park in the parking lot on Baker Valley Road or drive down to the barn and park there. Either way, the trail begins on the gravel road to the farm. The street parking lot adds an extra .2 mile (round trip). I began the hike at the barn.

The Thomas Farm Loop Trail is lollypop-shaped, meaning you hike out on the stick before reaching the loop. Also, halfway around the loop is the Middle Ford Ferry Loop Trail. This runs along the Monocacy River and adds about .4 mile to the overall hike.

Map of trails at the Thomas Farm

As mentioned, the hike begins along the gravel road to the Thomas Farm. The road splits just past the barn, so stay to the left. A right takes you over to the Thomas House.

Thomas Farm Loop Trail at Monocacy National Battlefield begins near the Thomas barn

Stay left at the fork just past the barn to remain on the Thomas Farm Loop Trail at Monocacy National Battlefield

The gravel road passes between two corn fields (crops may change by the time you do the hike). To keep the landscape similar to what it was like in 1864, the National Park Service leases the historical farmlands to modern-day farmers.

Corn fields at the Thomas Farm, Monocacy National Battlefield

The loop portion of the trail begins .3 mile past the barn. You can keep straight on the road and hike around in the clockwise direction or turn right onto a mowed grass path that runs between a soybean field (again, crops may change) and a stand of trees and hike in the counterclockwise direction. It makes no difference which way you go, but I stuck to the road, and this report is written from that perspective.

Grass path at the start of the loop portion of the Thomas Farm Loop Trail, Monocacy National Battlefield

About 200 yards past the start of the loop is another fork in the trail, with a right cutting through the soybean field. This is just a road the farmer uses to get to his crops. Keep straight on the main gravel road until you come to the forest, which is just up ahead.

Intersection of the Thomas Farm Loop Trail and a dirt road through the middle of a soybean field at the Thomas Farm, Monocacy National Battlefield

Once at the forest, the gravel road becomes an earthen road and keeps heading straight. My guess is that it leads to the Monocacy River, which is a little less than a quarter mile ahead. However, this is not the trail. The Thomas Farm Loop Trail forks off to the right. A temporary sign marked the turn when I did the hike.

Thomas Farm Loop Trail forks off from the gravel road and into the forest at the far end of the field, Monocacy National Battlefield

Thomas Farm Loop Trail enters the forest, Monocacy National Battlefield

The trail now proceeds into the forest, though the soybean field is just a stone’s throw away on the other side of the trees. The terrain is not completely flat, but the hike is never anything but easy. The trail surface is mainly smooth, but there are a few short segments with a lot of exposed tree roots, so watch your step.

Typical terrain on the forested section of the Thomas Farm Loop Trail at Monocacy National Battlefield

Rooty section of the Thomas Farm Loop Trail at Monocacy National Battlefield

At .75 mile from the start, the Thomas Farm Loop Trail exits the forest and now follows alongside the field. The intersection with the Middle Ford Ferry Loop Trail is just up ahead.

Thomas Farm Loop Trail near the intersection with the Middle Ford Ferry Loop Trail at Monocacy National Battlefield

If you want to hike the Middle Ford Ferry Loop Trail, be sure to check out the trail report here on National Park Planner. This report, however, assumes you skip it, so take a right at the intersection to continue around the Thomas Farm Loop Trail. Just 25 yards ahead is the second trailhead of the Middle Ford Ferry Loop Trail—it connects to the Thomas Farm Loop Trail in two different places—so pass that by as well.

The trail now turns southeast at the far end of the soybean field. There is a moderate hill to climb, but after that the terrain is fairly level.

Hill on the north end of the Thomas Farm Loop Trail at Monocacy National Battlefield

Typical terrain of the Thomas Farm Loop Trail at Monocacy National Battlefield

After .2 mile, the trail makes a right-hand turn at a narrow stand of trees onto another mowed grass path and begins heading southwest back towards the gravel road. Before the turn is the intersection with the north end of the dirt road you passed earlier on the other side of the loop, so be sure not to turn there.

Mowed grass path on the east side of the Thomas Farm Loop Trail at Monocacy National Battlefield

In another quarter mile you will be back on the gravel road. Take a left to return to the Thomas Farm barn.

Gravel road back to the barn at the Thomas Farm, Monocacy National Battlefield

There’s not much to the Thomas Farm Loop Trail, as it essentially just circles around a soybean field. The best scenery, the Monocacy River, is on the Middle Ford Ferry Loop Trail, so I highly suggest making that detour. Total distance for both trails is just 2.1 miles, and other than two short-but-steep hills at either end of the Middle Ford Ferry Loop Trail, the hike is along level ground.

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